


Children of Nations

by TheAnimeWriterLover



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: 3 Gender Changes, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Family, Friendship, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, No Romance for the Golden Trio, Plans on Lots of Omakes for Later, Some Weasley Bashing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-01
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2018-11-22 03:09:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 25,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11371350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAnimeWriterLover/pseuds/TheAnimeWriterLover
Summary: The summer before the Golden Trio's 3rd year, they found out something that's very important. They found out that the people, who they thought were their parents, really aren't their real ones. Their real parents are nations, who they were taken away from as newborns. Now, they are returned to them and have to learn the way of nations while going to Hogwarts all at once.





	1. Chapter 1

Harry, Hermione and Ron felt something was very wrong today, and it made itself known very well.

It started from the moment that they woke up.

When they woke up, all of them felt like their bodies were in immense pain, but they didn’t know why. When they met up with each other, they were quiet about what happened to them. They didn’t want to burden the others with something that could pass quickly for all they know. By the time that they got through with their last class before summer vacation, they nearly collapsed onto the ground from the pain that they were going through throughout the day. Finally, they have decided to tell each other what was going on.

Right now, the three sat down in their spots for dinner and talked.

“I don’t get it, why are we in so much pain?”

Ron asked and winced as his left arm’s muscles shifted painfully. He grabbed onto that arm tightly and tried to ignore the pain to the best of his capabilities. Harry had his glasses off then rubbed his eyes.

“I don’t know, but my eyes are really bothering me. I can barely see anymore.”

He winced rather loudly, when it felt like something hit the back of his eyes. Hermione, on the other hand, sat as still as possible. Each time that she moved, some part of her body screamed in protest. She really wanted to go to the Hospital Wing to check what was wrong, but the problem was the pain itself was too much. It was quite ironic, in her opinion. She just got out of there just the day before. If it wasn’t for her best friends going through the same thing as her, she would have thought that this was some sort of an after affect from the potion that she was forced to consume to get out of her paralyzed state.

Oh, how much she hated that she didn’t know what was going on. What she hated even more was the words that came out of her mouth:

“I don’t know what’s wrong with us.”

Throughout the rest of the dinner, none of them touched their food. The last thing they needed was to add stomach ache to their list.

-ooOOoo-

_“What are you doing here?” A female voice asked the other being in front of her. The other person looked towards her for a moment, before looking right back down at what was in front of him. The woman tilted her head ever so slightly. A small amused smile appeared on her beautiful but hidden face. She stated, “It’s time” The man nodded so slightly that the other barely caught it. “Are you sure that it was a good idea?”_

_“I know what I’m doing woman”_

_He replied with his very deep voice as he huffed at her question. It was almost as if he was insulted by the question. He took his job very seriously. He rarely made a mistake._

_“They’re in pain”_

_“Hn”_

_“Oh? Going back to the ‘hn’ language?” She cooed at him as she wrapped her arms around his neck from behind. She rested her chin on his shoulder. The woman didn’t get a reply from the man in her arms. Well, she didn’t expect one. What he said to her was the most that he would say. “They might die”_

_“Hn”_

_“Their parents might come after you for taking their little ones away.”_

_“Tch”_

_He shrugged with no care in the world. The woman giggled again and kissed his cheek. She said:_

_“Well, I got to head going. Don’t want to leave the dead unattended now do we?”_

_A wide smirk stretched across her lips. With that, she let him go and disappeared slowly into the shadows. The man looked down at the scene in front of him, and watched as the Golden Trio collapsed and were taken to the Hospital Wing straight away by the professors while the rest of the school buzzed like bees._

It has begun

_It was the last thought that went through his mind, before the shadows consumed him as well._


	2. Chapter 2

Madam Pomfrey stood there in complete and utter shock. She was ready to collapse on a chair nearby at the sight in front of her. The three students, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, lay in their separate beds. Well, that wasn't much of a shock. The thing that shocked her was the fact that a light surrounded their bodies. Their body features started to change shapes and colours. She knew one thing for sure and that was she couldn't do anything to them while they were in this state, because otherwise it might end with horrible consequences. So she decided to leave the Hospital Wing and go speak with Dumbledore.

The process continued for the past hour, and when it was over the Golden Trio woke up.

Harry didn’t have his trade mark looks. His once black hair lost its color and shape to be replaced with straight dark brown hair. His emerald eyes turned into a normal shade of green, which resembles the Earths colour more than that of a jewel. His skin turned into a natural looking tan. What seemed to be the most noticeable was that his body structure had developed into what a boy his age should look like and yet still it was unfamiliar on him.

Ron didn't have his red fiery hair and freckles that the Weasley's were very well known for. He did keep his blue eyes though, but their hues lighten up a bit and resembled more of the color of the sky than anything else. His red hair became straight brown hair, just like his best friend. The freckles that he once used to have were all gone, replaced with smooth fair skin. He was still his usual tall self, but it's the muscles on his body that changed. They seemed to have developed a bit. It was enough to be noticeable if one was close in range.

Hermione changed completely. Her once brown curly hair became wavy blond that went down to the mid of her back. Her once brown eyes became that of deep blue shade. Her body stayed nearly the same, but had more of an elegant edge to it than it did before. If a person looked at her for the first time, and didn't know who she was, they would have mistaken her for a Veela.

The three students groaned at the same time as they rubbed their sore muscles. None of them seemed to have noticed the changes that took place for the past hour. The only thing that they knew at the moment was that their pain was replaced with stiffness. The female of the group looked at the other two. She yelped in shock and nearly fell off the bed. Her actions caught the males' attentions. When they looked over their mouths to drop open in shock when they saw the changes of one another. Ron snapped out of it and interrogated his best friends, with his now light German accent:

"Harry... why is your hair brown? Better question, Mione', how come you have blond hair? Wasn't it brown?"

"We could ask you Ronald. You have brown hair instead of red."

Hermione snapped at him. It seemed that Ron wasn't the only one that had a different accent, because hers was French. Harry shook his head at the two. He felt a headache start to form from their abnormal small fight. He rubbed his templates in hope that it would get rid of the damn thing that was known as a headache. He opened his eyes and realized something. He saw clearly without his glasses. Harry knew that he should be happy, but it was just too strange. He asked out loud, mostly to himself, with a very noticeable Spanish accent:

"What happened to us?"

-ooOOoo-

Owls flew towards 6 different nations that were in their personal homes. All the letters were written in their native languages, but it said the same thing. When they opened the letters, they've read something that went like this:

_(Insert Country's name),_

_Your missing child is in Hogwarts School in Scotland. The only way for you to get there is with a portkey, which the letter contains. It's going to activate on Monday at 9 o'clock in the morning._

_Word of advice: Don't be late because it's leaving whether you're there or not_

Whoever it was never signed his or her name in the end. It didn't matter to the countries anyways, because they were first in shock, then in disbelief and then exploded with happiness as they made their way towards their lover to tell them the good news.

-ooOOoo-

_Fate sat on an armchair with one leg crossed over the other. He continued to stare at the orb that was in front of him, where the scene of the nations was replaced with that of the Golden Trio. He didn't have to turn around to know that he wasn't alone. The great being couldn't help but grow annoyed with the others, whom seemed to be quite angry at him for different reasons. Well, most of them were irritated. The rest of them didn't really care, because it didn't affect their jobs._

_A knife all of a sudden appeared against his neck. Its sharp blade was a centimeter away from cutting through the flash. The man didn't seem to be affected, as he continued to stare at the orb in front of him. The owner of the knife snarled at him:_

_"You just had to ruin my fun, by bringing those_ brats _into this!"_

_Fate put his finger against the hand that held the knife. He pushed it away from his neck slowly. He replied in a calm manner:_

_"Don't act like it affects your job, dear sister. You still have your fun in the end."_

_His twin sister, Chaos, stared at him silently. She disappeared from his left side, by turning into smoke, and slowly reappeared on his right side. She said in a slow, dangerous tone:_

_"I better have my fun, Fate, or you're going to hear it from me."_

_With that she disappeared into the shadows in her shadow form._

_On the other side of the room, a yawn was heard with a male voice following behind it:_

_"What does a guy got to do to get some sleep around here? Ever since you brought those kids into this, it seems that there's been none stop fighting."_

_Fate had to raise his eyebrow at this individual. The being was none other than Life. A sigh was heard from the hidden being at the lack of responds. Life said:_

_"I trust you."_

_Fate's hidden eyes narrowed slightly in shock. Everybody told him that he better know what he was doing, but this guy... he was something else. A rare small amused smile appeared on his lips. Even though they barely communicate with one another, it didn't mean that their trust was very low. Fate gave a small nod and Life left._


	3. Chapter 3

Friday, June 28, 1994.

It was the day that changed the lives of the Golden Trio’s forever. Not that they realized it. For them, it was the day when everything appeared to go wrong. They were supposed to be packing their stuff, so that they wouldn’t have to rush the next day to catch the train to head back home. They were supposed to talk about what they were going to do over the summer break, not sit in the hospital wing beds as if they were glued to it for the rest of their lives. They were supposed to joke around, not… well… they were kind of joking around about their looks, but awkward silence always followed soon afterwards.

Harry, Ron and Hermione all sighed at the same time.

Shortly after the Golden Trio woke up, they received a visitor by the name of Dumbledore. The headmaster felt his age catch up to him when he saw the trio. He thought that Madam Pomfrey was over exaggerating, but now it didn’t seem to be the case. His blue eyes studied them quietly, as they sat down in dead silence, not very sure what to say or do. He decided that action must take place, which meant one thing.

“I’m afraid that I can’t let you go home.”

“What?”

The trio shouted in complete shock. For Harry, he was the happiest out of the three, because it meant that he doesn’t have to go back to the Dursley’s. For Ron, he wasn’t very sure what he felt. He never thought about living somewhere away from his family before. One side of him wanted to go back home, to be with his whole family after a long year. Yet, another side of him was happy, and he wasn’t sure why. Hermione, also, wanted to go back to her parents more than anything in the world. It had been so long since she last seen them, and from what happened to her this year, she really needed their support and comfort.

Dumbledore gave them a sad look. He said in a gentle manner:

“We have to understand what has happened to the three of you. For now, it is better that the Wizarding World or your families know nothing of this for the time being.”

“Because if they find out, they’re going to think we’ve gone dark.”

Harry said in a knowing manner, as he fathomed completely his headmaster’s actions. To prove his suspicion, the old man nodded.

“We’re going to do the best that we can. But it can only succeed if the three of you cooperate with us.”

The trio looked at one another, as if they tried to read each other’s minds. After a while, the three nodded at the same time and Ron said on everybody’s behalf:

“Alright”

-ooOOoo-

“You tea drinking bastard, you had our children in that school of yours this whole time! Why didn’t you tell us?”

A female Italian voice shouted throughout the huge manor. The English man gulped as he stared at the five angry figures in front of him. He was just as shocked as the rest of them and felt stupid for the fact that he never thought to look there. He tried to calm the countries:

“I’m just as shocked as the rest of you. I would have felt them and Scotland would have told me, but it never came up. The only people that have ever gone to Hogwarts were wizards and witches. Scotland and I would have noticed if a country or their child is there.” A frown appeared on his face. He got up, walked up to the window of his library and looked out of the window with a thoughtful and wonders look. He continued, but mostly to himself, “I don’t know why they’re there in the first place, but this couldn’t be a coincidence.” He shook his head and said to the confused countries, “Let’s get ready for their arrival. We have children to pick up from school that expect a home to return to.”

-ooOOoo-

_“I can’t believe that Fate isn’t telling us anything!”_

_Male and female voices shouted at the same time. The two walked around the room all grumpy, but for different reasons. The male, War, was angry because now his job was taken away from him. Meanwhile, the woman, Hate, simply found another thing to put on her_ hate-list _. The other two figures in the room watched them in silence. The female of the two, Peace, broke the silence by saying gently:_

_“Come brother, cousin, there’s no need for violence.”_

_“Yes, all we need is love!”_

_The man, Love, beside her said in a cheerful and dramatic manner. He tried to hug his sister, but met with a foot in the face which belongs to the said person. The woman put her foot down, swung the other and sent her brother flying into the wall._

_“Shut up, I don’t want anything to do with you.”_

_She shouted as she crossed her arms and huffed. War simply ignored the two, as he listened to his sister saying:_

_“Fate has plans that must take place. We can’t interfere until the time for us to do our jobs comes. You know this War. So, why are you so angry?”_

_“It’s because I have to wait the longest out of all of us to do my job, and you know how much I_ hate _waiting.”_

_Peace simply sighed and patted on his shoulder. She looked over at the other siblings and questioned the great being next to her:_

_“How long do you think it’s going to take before Hate kills him?”_

_“5 minutes tops.”_

_“I think 10. The loser has to do what the winner wants.”_

_“Deal”_


	4. Chapter 4

Snape sneered down at the trio. He wasn't happy... more so than usual. He was supposed to be in his lab brewing potions. Not look after three idiots who can't keep their noses out of somebody else's business. Unfortunately, the headmaster wanted him to make a specific potion for the children. That was why he was here, standing behind a wooden desk that was in front of the children inside the Hospital Wing. On the desk were three papers, three bottles that contained the potions and three knifes. Did he forget to mention that the headmaster and some of the professors were there? He might as well have. The Master of Potions said slowly with dryness:

"These are heritage potions. Drink the whole thing, prick your finger with this knife and let it drop on these papers. I think that even you, dunderheads, could do something as simple as this."

Ron and Harry tried their bests not to glare at the man. Just because he helped them didn’t mean that they liked him anymore than before. Hermione ignored the glaring contest between the trio and did what was instructed. She drank the potion, which, by the way, was the second most awful thing she has tasted in her entire life. She made a face of disgust when she finished to gulp the potion. She grabbed the black knife and pricked her middle finger and let a few drops of blood hit the paper. Her magic took control and healed the small cut as if it has never been there. Hermione put down the knife as she watched as her blood shaped, she realized, words.

_Birth name: Shaquila Angeline Kirkland_

_Current name: Hermione Jean Granger_

_Position: Personification of Paris_

_Age: 12 and half_

_Birth father: Arthur Kirkland (Alive) Also known as England/United Kingdom_

_Birth mother: Françoise Bonnefoy (Alive) Also known as France_

_Adopted father: Ben Granger (Alive)_

_Adopted mother: Jean Granger (Alive)_

_Date of birth: July 19th, 1980_

Hermione stared in shock, confusion and curiosity at her paper. Her surroundings were left forgotten. Her friends didn't pay attention either. They still had a glaring contest with their Potion Professor. Harry was the first who broke the eye contact to follow his friend's footsteps. He stared down at the paper as he started to read.

_Birth name: Custodio Raniero Carriedo_

_Current name: Harry James Potter_

_Position: Personification of Madrid_

_Age: 12 and half_

_Birth father: Antonio Hernández Carriedo (Alive) Also known as Spain_

_Birth mother: Katarina Vargas (Alive) Also known as South Italy_

_Adopted father: James Potter (Deceased)_

_Adopted mother: Lily Potter (Deceased)_

_Date of birth: July 31st, 1980_

Now it was Harry's turn to stare with the same emotions at paper. There was only one thing that was different between the way Hermione and he felt. He felt heartbroken as well as angry. His birth parents were alive. It said right there in reddish-black and white. There was only one thing that he could conclude from the information in front of him. Why has his birth parents abandoned him? Was he so worthless that even they didn't care for him? The Boy-Who-Lived had a hard time to digest and fight his inner demons. His best mate finally broke the eye contact to follow the same footsteps. He looked down at his paper and read with interest.

_Birth name: Rinaldo Willafried Beilschmidt_

_Current name: Ronald Bilius Weasley_

_Position: Personification of Berlin_

_Age: 12 and half_

_Birth father: Ludwig Beilschmidt (Alive) Also known as Germany_

_Birth mother: Alice Vargas (Alive) Also known as North Italy_

_Adopted father: Arthur Weasley (Alive)_

_Adopted mother: Molly Weasley (Alive)_

_Date of birth: July 5th, 1980_

"What does it mean by  _personification of Belin_? Better yet, why are my birth parents names contain countries names right beside them?"

Ron voiced out the questions that the others were thinking. This wasn't normal.

McGonagall gasped in shock at what she heard. She turned to the equally as shocked Dumbledore, saying in disbelief:

"Dumbledore, this can't be right. They couldn't be related to...  _them_!"

"I'm afraid, my dear friend, that it's true."

He said in a tired manner. He looked with his sorrow blue eyes at the trio and started to explain to them what their parents and, now, they were. By the end of the whole explanation, the trio just stood there in complete shock. They weren’t sure what to say or do at the moment. What they were sure about, though, was that their lives were going to change forever.

-ooOOoo-

After the professors and headmaster left, the trio sat down on Harry’s bed. Ron asked the other male of the group:

“So… we’re cousins?”

“I guess,” The dark brown headed boy started. He looked away from his friends to his lap. He asked them in a small voice, “do you… think that they abandoned us?”

“No” Hermione answered right away. The boys looked at her, as they wondered why she thought so. She lifted her chin up, in confidence, and glared at the two for thinking such a thing. “Think about it this way. _Why_ would they abandon us?”

The boys stared at her as she paused. They tried to come up with reasons, but came to a dead end at each thought. As far as they knew from what their professors told them, nations rarely had biological children. The chances for them to abandon their children were near 0%. The green eyed wizard brought his legs to his chest and tugged them under his chin. His eyes glazed over thoughtfully with a hint of hope. He asked once again:

“Do you think… that maybe… maybe they’re looking for us?”

“I think that they are.”

“Then why haven’t they found us yet?”

Ron demanded. The two looked at him in surprise. That was something that none of them really thought of. The other male thought about some sort of answer. Their parents were powerful beings. If they were just placed with their current families, then they would have been found, surely. They were nations. They may have powers to keep track of their citizens or something like that. If that was true, then why wouldn’t they be able to do the same for their children? That meant only one thing: someone has placed a powerful spell on them. He voiced his last thought:

“Do you guys think that we have a spell placed on us, so to prevent our parents from finding us?”

The other brown headed boy mused. The question made his mind go miles per second, to the point that his dark mood was temporarily forgotten.

“There are spells that can do that. The thing is that they’re all too powerful for anyone to cast. What they might teach us would be the lower level ones, and they’re only able to hide a person temporary.”

“How do you know something like that when I don’t?”

Hermione demanded. The blue eyes looked at her with laziness.

“Only Pureblood families have knowledge like this. You can’t find information like this anywhere else.”

The girl glared at him and crossed her arms with a huff. Harry bites his bottom lip to muffle the snicker that was going to erupt. It was never boring when you had those two together.


	5. Chapter 5

The weekend was long, boring and heartbreaking for the trio. They had nearly nothing to do, because they were stuck in their beds in the Hospital Wing. But there were two things that took place over the weekend. One of them was something that they didn't even want to look back on.

On Saturday, the Weasley family came to check on their family member. To say that Molly was shocked and outraged was underestimated. If it wasn't for the rest of the family, whom held her back, she would have sent curses towards Ron's direction. She swore that if she found him, _an ungrateful brat_ in her words, around her children, he was going to regret it. Arthur didn't say anything to his ex-son, except that he wasn't welcomed into the family anymore. The rest of the family, on the other hand, stared at their parents with disgust as they stood up for their ex-brother, whom they still saw as one whether or not they were related by blood. They supported Ron, whom they found out was named Rinaldo, and gave him their best wishes for when he goes to his real family. McGonagall was shocked at the behaviour. She tried to explain to calm the Weasley parents down. At least, long enough to explain that there couldn’t have possibly been anyone that modified their memories to this length. As Rinaldo explained to his friends, the spell was far too complicated. Not even Dumbledore was powerful enough to cast it. Yet, it wasn’t enough for Molly and Arthur. They left while they dragged their biological children with the. The professor tried to get the situation under control to some level. She was a teacher, after all. She cared for her students, no matter the house. In her eyes, they were nothing more than innocent children. She explained to the ex-Weasley that they only needed time to calm down and recover from their shock. But everyone in the room knew that it wasn’t going to happen. For the rest of that day, Rinaldo didn't say a word to either of his friends and kept to himself. The other two understood his actions and gave him his space, though they never left him alone.

Hermione, or better known as Shaquila, found out that her own family had their memories of her removed. It broke her heart to the point that she cried. She loved her foster parents so much, even if they didn't give her much attention as she would have liked. At first, she begged to at least see them one last time. She swore that she wouldn’t communicate with them. But the professors forbid her each time. Not once had they looked her in the eye when they refused. If not for the impossibility of leaving the school grounds and getting back to her formal home successfully, she would have tried to escape. So, just like Rinaldo, she wanted to be left alone.

Harry, or better known as Custodio, was the happiest of the group. They have obliviated the Dursley's memories of him. That only meant that he was never to go back there. When he found out about that, he was over the moon. He still hadn't told anybody, except his best friends, of how bad the situation was. But he did sugar coat a lot of the information, since he didn't want them to know the full story. So instead of giving either a happy or a fake sad face, he gave them a poker look. The headmaster and professors, especially Snape, were quite suspicious about his respond but said nothing.

The other thing that took place was that the headmaster announced to them that their real parents were to arrive on Monday morning. This made the three nervous. They had no idea what to expect. They were thankful, though, when the headmaster gave them some pictures of their parents. It was so that they wouldn't confuse between the adults. Shaquila and Rinaldo felt slightly better after they were given the pictures. None of the trio admitted it, but they kept the pictures close to them. When the other two weren’t looking, the third would look over the pictures.

On Monday morning, at 7 AM, they Golden Trio decided to go off to the kitchen. Once they found it, they ate a bit since they were too nervous to stomach a full course meal. The house elves would have protested, but they noticed the nervous behaviours and said nothing. After that, the students marched off to the Gryffindor dorm, grabbed a few things, and strolled over to the Quidditch Field. Yes, even Shaquila decided to join them. She said that she only agreed to come with them, just to make sure that the boys didn’t do anything stupid. In the end, somehow, someway, they managed to get her onto a broom and play with them Quidditch. She, from what they found out, was an excellent player. If it wasn't for Rinaldo and Custodio who worked together, they would have lost, badly. 

By the end of the third round, they completely forgot about their nervousness in meeting their parents for the first time.

The trio landed onto the ground and Rinaldo asked his female best friend:

"Where did you learn to play like that?"

Shaquila smirked. She put her fists onto her hips and replied:

"What is it that I hear? Is it jealousy perhaps?"

"As if"

The other snorted with an eye roll, but a second later he turned around and huffed. Custodio looked between the two as if he watched a tennis match. A grim look started to appear. He did not want the two to start arguing again. Not today of all days. So he came up with an idea. No matter how childish it sounded, it was better than them fighting. So the boy poked his best mate in the shoulder and announced:

"You're it"

The two friends stared at him like he grew a second head. A second later, the playfulness from before returned as the blond girl giggled and ran off. With a smug grin, so did the Boy-Who-Lived. They left behind a stunned Rinaldo. He blinked a few times as he snapped out of it. His face turned red slightly, a habit that did not go away with the Weasley genes. He shouted:

"Why I outta-" He growled with a bit of playfulness then chased after them. "Get back here!"

He shouted at the two laughing friends as they continued to run. They looked at each other, shared a smirk, and went their separate ways just before the boy caught them. The brown headed boy stopped in his tracks. He looked at both his sides, as he tried to decide whom he was going to chase. He got an idea. He closed his eyes, spun a few times, opened them to see his female friend, and chased right after her. She noticed him getting closer and yelped in shock. Shaquila tried to run faster, but it seemed that luck was not on her side. Next thing she knew, he tackled her into the ground.

“Gottcha!”

“Let go of me”

Shaquila tried to push him off of her, ignoring a bit of the pain from the fall. As she was on her stomach, she tried to wiggle from underneath him, but he didn’t let her. She didn’t notice the evil smirk the brown headed boy gave her. Next thing she knew, he started to tickle her. She burst into laughter and fought as best as she could from underneath her. He only stopped long enough to say two words:

"You're it"

With that he ran off.

"Hey!"

Shaquila shouted in an outrage at being the victim to a tickle attack and chased after him.

The duo, at this point, forgot about the third member of the group. Not that he minded. Custodio sat on the green grass while he munched on some snacks that he snuck out. Due to the forgotten nervousness, his appetite returned on some level. He watched in amusements as his two best friends chased after one another. _This is better than watching Quidditch_ , he thought with a huge grin. He petted himself on the back, mentally, at a job well done. He looked down at the bag filled with popcorn and wondered something. _Maybe I could get the house elves to make this sometimes_.

-ooOOoo-

It soon became 9 AM. The children still played with each other outside, and away from everyone's view. What they didn’t know, was that the professors ran around like chickens without their heads. They did that because they just found out that the trio went missing. On the other side of the school, a loud _pop_ was heard. There stood six figures. They looked rather anxious, and for good reasons too. After all, they were to pick up their children, whom they were going to meet for the first time since they were born.

The personification countries marched over to the castle. They were greeted by the headmaster. He said cheerfully:

"Arthur! It's good to see you once more."

The British nation tried not to let his temper rise. He was nervous enough as it was. He was not in the mood for a chat. So it was of no wonder that he replied with an impatient, slight rude tone:

"Yes, it's a pleasure to see you again. Now, if you don't mind, we would like to see our children."

Albus tried not to sweat. He was glad that he had enough self-control to appear that he had everything together without giving anything away. Though, it was a bit harder than two seconds ago, because he did not want to be on the end of Arthur’s temper. He replied in the same tone as before:

"Ah yes, but I'm afraid that they're resting at the moment. You know how Poppy is. She's not going to let anybody see them at the moment."

That was not the right answer, the wizard realized. He took note of Arthur’s eyebrow twitch, along with one other woman who looked ready to blow up. Before she could, he replied in a slow tone to keep his anger under his control:

"Albus, the children should be up by now."

"Yes, well, let's just say that the weekend was quite... eventful, you could say." That got a questionable look from everybody, "Now, let's go to my office. We could talk about what we're going to do next. After all, it would be a shame to have such great magical wizards to not return to Hogwarts next year."

Everybody became quite annoyed at him and didn’t bother to hide it. Even if their children were asleep, they still wanted to see them. They decided, for now, that they would play along. Sooner or later they were going to see their son or daughter. If not, then things were not going to look pretty. As they walked into the castle, Professor Sprout ran over. She didn't notice the countries yet, since the only person she saw from her position was the headmaster. She shouted:

"We still can't find the children!"

Albus looked like he swallowed the sourest lemon in the world. It was when the professor finally noticed the shocked and enraged nations, had she frozen. Ludwig was the first to speak. He tried to stay calm, but clearly had a hard time. His voice grew deeper as it shook ever so slightly.

"You _lost_ our children?"

"How can you lose them?"

At last, the angry woman from before, Katarina Vargas, raged. The two humans were met with murderous looks.

Oh boy, now they were in _deep_ trouble.


	6. Chapter 6

"Calm down!"

A shout was heard throughout the hall. That voice belonged to, surprisingly, Feliciana Vargas. She glared at everybody, which made the countries shut their mouths without going any further. She turned her opened, cool eyes towards the headmaster, and asked him with surprise calmness:

"How did you lose them?"

Both Ludwig and Katarina kept a close eye on the woman, as they could tell the dangerous undertone in her calmness. This was the reason why her sister didn’t call her out on her calmness and why her husband kept his guard up. The older sister wasn’t the only one that had connections with the mafia. She was also not the only scary one among the siblings. The two professors looked nervous. Albus replied in an honest and defeated tone:

"When Poppy was going to give them their breakfast, she found their beds were empty. We've been searching for them inside the school since then."

"Had it ever crossed your mind that maybe they would want to breathe some fresh air?"

That question came from Antonio in curiosity, though there was undertone anger like the other parents. The two humans stared at him in shock. They hadn’t thought of that. All the wizards and witches in the school were so busy to look inside that they forgot to look _outside_ as well. Mentally, the two kicked themselves in their behinds. The headmaster got the other professor to go tell the others to search the outside, which she did, and he guided the nations to the outdoors. Hopefully, the students haven't gotten themselves into much trouble.

-ooOOoo-

The trio lied in a circle with their heads close to each other. Their eyes stared up at the cloud filled sky. Custodio said as he pointed up at one cloud:

"That one looks like a rabbit."

"No, it looks like a book."

Shaquila replied alongside a frown, which was twitching in the corner of the mouth to turn into a smile. Rinaldo snorted and said:

"You two are disillusion. That's Malfoy being hexed in the arse."

The other two turned their heads slightly at him, at each other, then right back at him. The other male in the group asked him:

"Really, Ron-"

"Custodio! What did we talk about earlier? Also, _language_ Rinaldo no more swearing do you hear me?"

The female cut him off. The trio made a deal earlier in the weekend that they would call each other by their birth names. It was so that they would be able to use them whenever they were around their parents and they wouldn't get confused by them. After all, it wouldn’t be of any good if they were too used to their second names if their parents called them by their first names. Both boys rolled their eyes and the one with green eyes said once more:

"Really, _Rinaldo_ , that's the first thing that comes to your mind?"

"What? All of the clouds look like that."

He replied with a proud smirk, as he let himself get lost in his imagination. The two rolled their eyes at him and laughed. Why did Custodio even bother? Even though they changed on the outside, they were still the same on the inside. He was still the same Slythering-hating, loving, jokester guy of the group.

"So... who wants to play more Quidditch?"

Custodio asked the most important question in the world... at least for the other male in the group. Rinaldo didn’t respond. He got up and marched over to the nearby Quidditch field. The two friends laughed at his reaction and chased after him. It was either that, lying around doing nothing, or listening to him going on about Malfoy. So the choice was obvious.

The trio got onto their brooms, but, before they started the game, the blue eyed boy said:

"Shaquila, let's see if you're as good a keeper, than you are as a chaser."

"Is it me, or did I just hear a bet?"

The other male of the group asked, which made Shaquila sent Rinaldo an evil smile. She hummed in thoughtfulness:

"Alright, but if I can block 10 times by the time that the game finishes, you have to..." She thought which caused the smile to turn into a frown. Just as quickly, it turned back into the evil smile. "You have to dress up in a dress and go around saying how much you love Malfoy."

Rinaldo's face turned pale at the thought of it. While he thought of what he would do if he won, Custodio howled with laughter and almost fell off the broom. What his friend said next, and the reaction, made him gasp for air.

"Fine, but if you miss more than 5 times, you have to give up reading any type of books for a _whole_ month."

Shaquila gasped at what he said. Now, there was _no freaking way,_ was she going to lose her beloved books. They shook hands:

"Deal"

"This is going to be interesting. I must have some popcorn left."

The forgotten member said. He didn't mind being forgotten by his friends. As long as the bets were mainly on each other and weren’t dangerous, it didn’t matter to him. Before he could fly off, he was grabber in the collar of the shirt by Shaquila. She snapped at him:

"Oh no you don’t. We still need you."

Custodio blinked at her in confusion.

"What? What exactly can I do? Just fly there?"

"No, you're going to make sure neither of us cheat and count our points."

He sighed with dismay, but nodded in agreement. The three flew to the hoops. Custodio announced in a dramatic voice:

"Now, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the bet off Quidditch game. In one corner, the Keeper is Shaquila. In another corner, the Chaser is Rinaldo." He clapped alongside, in his imagination clearly, a huge audience. He ignored the glares, "Now, play nice like good children. Also, Rinaldo, don't get distracted by the pretty Keeper now would you?"

Both the children's faces went red at that comment. The two shouted at the same time:

"Custodio!"

He pouted.

"Fine," He mumbled to himself "party poopers."

It wasn’t as if he was like this all the time. Maybe the twins rubbed off on him, who knows.

"Let's get the game started!"

With that they were off.

-ooOOoo-

_"Hey! I like this kid! Ah, young love, he's right about that."_

_Love said with amusements. He was smacked over the head over by Hate. She sneered at him:_

_"Shut it! I'm trying to watch a game here!"_

_So you must be wondering to yourself, are they the only ones to watch the game? It's a big, fat,_ nope _. All the other beings came to watch with curiosity, amusements, or boredom (since they had nothing better to do). One thing for sure, they were all pretty interested to see who was going to win in the end. It seemed from the rare amused smile on Fate's face, that he knew already. They tried to get it out of him, but soon gave up as he didn’t answer to any of them. So they started to make bets with each other instead on who was going to win._

_This was going to be interesting._


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, hi. I'm not dead. If I was, I'd be enjoying a drink on a beach. Unfortunately, I'm alive, and thus, I have been busy for the last two months. I'm trying my best to get these stories going. Hope you guys can stay patient with me. :) Please check my profile bio so that you guys can find my Facebook Page where I keep updates on these stories and what's going on. Happy Holidays everyone!!!

By the time that the game almost ended, the nations and Dumbledore arrived to the Quidditch field.

North Italy and Germany watched their son, as he kept throwing a ball into one of the hoops. The female was quite worried that he would fall off, but was quite impressed at how he handled himself on a broom. She knows about the game, due to her magical community. Yet, she never really thought about getting onto one of the brooms due to fear of heights. So it was nice to know that he doesn't share the same fears as hers. He had great talent. Her husband thought that his son had quite good balance to manage to twist and turn in a snap. But from what he could see from the distance, the boy needed to be trained. He had a lot of meat on those arms and legs but they were at most fat. Right away, he started to create a training schedule for him.

South Italy and Spain also watched their son. He seemed quite content to just fly around in a happy and cheerful mood. So much so, that he almost looked like he was hopping on midair. Katarina really wanted her son to get down from there and hug him to tell herself that he really was there, safe and sound. Spain chuckled as he watched his son's childish and carefree behavior. He reminded him of himself quite a bit. He wondered if the boy got any personality traits from his wife... which he hoped not. He loves her and all, but her curses and temper was enough to deal with.

France and England watched their daughter block the ball again and again. France was so happy when she saw her daughter. She had the most cutest and beautiful face that she had ever seen. She looked a lot like her, and the nation was thankful for that. She didn’t know what she would do if the girl gained her father's haircut or huge eyebrows. She shivered at the thought. _Nobody_ should have those traits. But that was just a passing thought. What she really wanted to do was get to know the girl and make up for all the years that they’ve missed. England smiled with proudness at his daughter. He never thought that she would be an amazing Quidditch player. A moment later England proudness turned into sadness, as he continued to watch his daughter. He missed so many birthdays and holidays that they could have spent together. He could have done so much during those years, but yet it was taken away from both him and his wife. It felt like they were meeting a complete stranger. He planned on fixing it right away, and wasn't going to waste any time in doing so.

England wasn't the only one who thought of this. Everybody felt bad and planned on doing the same thing as the English gentleman. So to say that they were going to let their children leave their sides anytime soon was an underestimation.

Finally, the three landed. Custodio shouted in a dramatic way:

"The winner _is_ Shaquila. Good luck Rinaldo, have fun."

It seems that Rinaldo didn't listen to a word he said, because he was sulking. Shaquila looked quite smug, and the best thing is that she didn't have to give up her books for a whole month. She teased her sulking friend:

"Don't worry. I'm going to find a very pretty dress for you to wear. Maybe I could find a wig and makeup as well."

The brown headed boy heard that and looked ready to cry. He wondered what he ever done to deserve that. Custodio turned his head and his green eyes narrowed. He told his friends:

"Um, guys, we're caught."

"Huh?"

The two asked as they stared at him confused. They followed his gaze and found themselves floored at what they saw, their parents and the headmaster. The nervousness from before came back, accompanied with fear. They had two options, run or go to them. In their panic and nervousness, they went with the clear option. They got onto their brooms and flew away. Before they could get away, they felt magic surround them. The next thing that they knew, they landed in front of the headmaster.

Dumbledore looked down at them with clear amusements. He asked:

"Now, would you enlighten me as to why you weren't in bed?"

The three kids looked down their feet in shame. They were caught. Shaquila answered for all of them:

"W-W-We're sorry professor, b-b-but too much took place for us to stay in place. W-We had to get out of there."

The old man nodded in understanding. He was there when the whole family drama took place. So he understood their decisions. He asked once more:

"What were you doing out here for the past few hours?"

It was Rinaldo's turn to answer.

"We played some Quidditch and tag then rested. We didn't do much other than that."

"So would you explain to me the little drama that took place just a few moments ago?"

 _That_ question got an embarrassed Rinaldo to blush and Shaquila to look smug. Custodio answered that one with a chuckle.

"The two here had a bet."

"Oh? What was it, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Not at all. The bet was that if Shaquila managed to block 10 times by the end of the game, Rinaldo had to wear a dress and go around saying how much he loves Malfoy. Rinaldo said that if she misses five times, then she has to give up her books for a whole month. So you can guess who won."

The headmaster chuckled with warmth.

"Did you have a purpose for being up there with them?"

"I did have a purpose. I was to make sure that they didn’t cheat. But I turned into an announcer in the end. It was a lot of fun too."

Custodio smiled with brightness in the end. He never had the chance to really settle down and enjoy himself. The headmaster relaxed a bit at the sight of the smile. For as long as he could remember, ever since the boy came to Hogwarts, he never gave a real smile. Now that he did, he appeared to be free and look like his actual age. Dumbledore didn’t know why that was, but he didn't care at the moment. He was just happy that the child, whom he saw as a grandson, finally let himself loose. The old age wizard then remembered about the elder nations. He said to the children as he waved towards the direction of the nations:

"Children, I would like you to meet your parents."

He watched as they looked at the nations with nervousness. He noticed that they haven't moved an inch towards them when he introduced the two groups. So he decided to help them a bit. He walked behind the trio and guided them to their parents. The old magical beings didn't need to be introduced to their children, since they obviously knew whose child was whose. Without wasting any time, the parents hugged their respectable child. At the moment, the said parents ignored what they heard, for now. They had other things to do.

Out of the entire trio, Custodio was the one who flinched at the contact, which he regretted. His parents frowned at his actions, looked at each other then back at him. His mother asked him:

"Are you alright?"

He blushed in embarrassment and nodded. He, once more, was smothered in her hug. Never, for as long as he could remember, has he ever been hugged in such a loving way. Molly never counted, because it felt out of place when she did hug him. Maybe to his friend it felt like it. But this was a whole new thing for him.

With Shaquila, her mother spoke in a rapid speed.

"I'm so happy to have you back amoureux **(1)**. You don't know how much we missed you. We have so much to catch up to."

The daughter stared with wide eyes at her mother's behavior. Her father looked a bit annoyed at the woman he loves. He ignored her behavior and spoke to his daughter with a soft smile.

"Welcome back to the family, Shaquila."

Shaquila felt warmth evolve in her heart. She smiled and hugged both of her parents. After a moment, she pulled away a bit and talked with the same rapid speed as that of her mother’s. The subjects were all over the place, but the parents smiled and listened to every word she said.

With Rinaldo, it was an awkward situation. After what happened on Saturday with the Weasley family, he didn’t know how to act. Should he be happy to be with his real family? How long did he need to wait to call them mom and dad? There were so many questions, but he wasn't sure what the answers were. All he could do in the end was let his birth mother pull him into a literal breathtaking hug. He watched her as she cried and rocked them a bit. He felt a hand rest on top of his shoulder. Rinaldo looked up, to meet with the same pair of eyes as his. They belonged to his father. The man gave a small smile and nodded towards him. The son didn’t know how, but he could tell that it was his way to say _welcome back_. Rinaldo smiled and hugged his mother back. Yes, he needed time to adjust, but it was going to be worth it.

Dumbledore watched the reunion with a smile and watering eyes. He was happy for the children. They deserved to be with their real families after all they went through for the last few years. At least that was what he thought, since he didn't know much about their family life. All that he knew was that this wasn't going to be the last time that they would see the trio.

After getting their things, the trios said farewell to the professors and headmaster and left the grounds with a portkey.

**(1) Sweetheart**


	8. Chapter 8

The trio was separated by their parent's, right when they let go of the portkey. They protested. They were not ready to leave the other two straight away. It wasn't even two weeks when their whole lives were changed forever. They have cared and supported each other when everything seemed to change around them without a sign of stopping. So to move right out of the environment that they were used to and into another, their minds were not able to handle this. The parents finally gave in and agreed that the trio could see each other in a few days, but only when they were finished to get settled down. The trio agreed with the terms and went their separate ways.

-ooOOoo-

Custodio was nervous when they got to his new home. He studied his surroundings and was quite shocked when he saw that the house was a simple one in the outskirts of his mother’s home. When he thought of the nations, he imagined that they were super rich and wanted to live in a comfortable, expensive, mansion. It seemed that it wasn't the case. Yes, they could do that, his parents explained, but they were far more comfortable in the medium sized houses.

After that explanation, he was taken to his new bedroom. It was a nice medium sized room. The chamber had the accessories that any other bedchambers had. The only things that were added were the big size bed in the corner, a few bookcases and what seems to be a guitar leaning against a desk. The wall was colored in a soft shade of green that reminded him of the outdoors. There was only one window, but it was big enough to make him fit through it if he wanted to use the tree outdoors to get out.

Custodio's parents knew that he needed time to adjust to the house, so they left him to explore it. But not before they told him what areas of the house were off limits. Custodio, being the curious child that he was, wanted to go to where they told him not to go. He stopped though, when he realized that they put their trust in him. So it would be a bad idea to destroy their trusts over stupid curiosity.

He turned away from the corridor that he was told not to go to, and went off to explore the other areas of the house. His green eyes looked with amazement at all the artifacts that were placed around the hallways. He expected some of these things to be in museums, not in a normal house. He guessed that they were collected over the years by his parents, which made him look with more awe.

A great example would be a portrait in the hall that led to both the kitchen and living room. The portrait was pretty big. The frame of it was gold with a lot of small detail that reminded him of the wind. The picture seems old, from the way that the people inside were dressed. When Custodio studied the figures a bit closer, he realized that it was his parents. Well, at least he believed that the girl in her early teen was his mother, since she sure looked like her. His father looked like a sailor from the pictures he saw in history textbooks. He had the hat. Yet, the type of sailor that he was, the son wasn't sure of. Was he a marine? Or was he a pirate? Custodio decided to return his attention to the other figure in the picture, his mother. She had the same hair and eyes, but the baby fat and lack of feministic features made him believe that it was a boy more so than a girl. It didn't help that the teen wore boy clothing.

Custodio made a mental note to ask his parents about the portrait later, but now he wanted to explore the other areas of the house first. It didn't take long, since there wasn't much else to look at. After he finished he headed back to his room to unpack. Taking out all of his magical books, he put them into one of the bookcases neatly. He started from his first year to the following year. Taking a few steps back, he saw that the books barely filled out half of the top row. Looking at the objects, the thought of if he and his friends would ever go back to Hogwarts crossed his mind. He always viewed the place as his home, compared to the Dursley's, but, on the other hand, both years he nearly got himself killed. Still, were their parents going to let them head back to Hogwarts next year?

"Custodio! Dinner's ready!"

His father called from downstairs. Custodio snapped out of his thoughts in surprise. It couldn’t be that it was dinner already. It was late in the afternoon when they got home, yeah, but this fast? He didn't expect it. He shrugged it off and walked downstairs. As he came upon the dining room, he was once more startled. In front of him, on a medium sized table, there were many plates filled with food. His past instincts kicked in. He took a random seat with hesitation and stared down at his empty plate, which waited for him to fill it up. He didn’t do that. Instead, he waited for that same plate to be taken away and to be made fun of for expecting an actual meal. To his shock, his parents sat down and filled out their empty plates. They didn't show any sign in taking away his. With careful, slow, movements, he copied his parents’ actions. His green eyes flickered to them every second or so, as he still expected for them to snap at him about something and take his plate away.

It didn’t last long. Once he settled down with his plate full of mix Italian and Spanish food, he dug in. His eyes widened before they shut and he hummed in quietness. He never tasted anything so good in his life. It was even better than Hogwarts’ food, which should not be possible!

Without knowing it, he was watched carefully by his mother in the corner of her eyes. Antonio looked up from his plate and watched how his son went from a guarded look to happiness once he started to eat. The happiness in his young eyes had a twinkle of thankfulness. His arm half circled around the plate, almost cradling it. These actions made the father frown ever so. He didn’t like where his thoughts were going, when he recognized these movements from his pirate days. The thought of it being brought upon his son made him twitch. Counting to ten, Antonio calmed down. He looked at his lover and met her eyes. She pointed her head towards their son. Knowing what she wanted, he started to interrogate in a casual manner:

"Custodio, who did you live with all this time?"

The boy froze with the fork half way to his mouth. He looked up at them then glanced down at his plate. He brought the plate closer to him while he played around with the food with his fork. He muttered ever so:

"Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon and my cousin Dudley."

"How were they?"

Once more, the couple was met with silence in the beginning. Custodio thought hard on what to say next. He couldn't just blur out that he was heavily physically and emotionally abused. He replied in the same quietness:

"Fine..."

"Just fine?"

Katarina asked with suspicion, already getting an idea of what probably happened. Custodio nodded a bit and went back to eat. The silence was broken by the father asking his son if he enjoyed Hogwarts. The bright look in the younger's eyes lightened up the mood, and the parents listened in amused silence at the stories that he told them. What they didn’t know, was that he kept the important details about the stone, snake and Voldermort a secret. God knows what they would do if they found out. It wasn't long before the trio finished dinner. Custodio tried to do the dishes, a habit of his from childhood, but he was shunned from the kitchen and was told to go explore the place more. So with the encouragement, the 12 year old boy left to the outdoors gardens that he spotted outside of one of the windows. When he was out of sight, Katarina turned to her husband with a scowl.

"Antonio, have you noticed his... _behavior_?"

She twitched at the end of the sentence. The man nodded slowly. He knew that if he said one wrong word she would go into her mafia boss mode and go after the humans. For a gentle nation in modern times, he wasn’t naïve to this stuff. Keeping that in mind, he would almost encourage her. But he wasn’t too keen on the nations getting onto their backs, as a consequence. Not that any of them cared. It was just that they tried, key word _tried_ , to be… what was the word? Oh yeah, more human. It was just something that they agreed to try in the last 5 or so decades. But if she went after them, he wouldn’t stop her. She’d probably go through her mafia lines anyways, and let them deal with these human guardians. That last thought made Antonio pause in thoughtfulness. Funny enough, the mafia had a soft spot for children. If they knew that their top boss’ son was abused in anyway, it could make them go on a bloodlust hunt. Hm… maybe it wasn’t such a good idea, now that he thought about it. After he entertained the idea for another moment, he gave a mental shrug before he returned his attention back to his wife. He replied in gentleness:

"I've seen that sort of a behavior during my pirating days. He was abused, but how bad is debatable. From what I saw during dinner, it has to have been going on for at least a few years. We’d need to see his previous home to know for certain."

Katarina's hazel eyes darkened. Without knowing it, a dark aura started to form around her. Her husband moved a few feet away, knowing full well that he switched the mode on without meaning to. He tried his best not to panic, but it seeped into his voice:

"K-Katarina, don't-"

"I will _murder_ them!"

With that, she stumped out of the kitchen before Antonio could stop her. Walking out of the kitchen, he saw no sign of her and knew that she left the house to meet up with some... _business partners_. A few minutes later, his son showed up with clear confusion on his face. He asked:

"Where did Ms-" Once he realized what he was about to say, Custodio corrected himself, but with awkwardness, "Where did mom go?"

Ignoring the slip up, the father sighed and replied:

"She had some business to take care of."

"Must be some business. She looked _really_ mad."

The other stated as he looked down the hall to where the front door was. All Antonio did was sigh and nod. Petting his son's right shoulder, the duo left the kitchen to get to know each other a bit more. It wasn't long before Custodio had to go to sleep, and for once he slept without a nightmare hunting his dreams.

-ooOOoo-

Rinaldo found his situation awkward. The first few days, he spent them trying to understand modern technology. He didn't know what half of the things in the house were, which left him totally lost. What made his situation even worse was the fact that his _new_ mother has found out that he barely knew anything to do with the non-magical world. That meant that he didn't know what _pasta_ was. He also found out that his _new_ father had this unhealthy obsession with working out.

This was almost 180 degrees of a family personality change compare to his other one.

How he found out about it? Well, it was hard to not notice it when the man woke him up earlier the following morning in an _ungodly_ hour to train.

Well, Rinaldo was lazy, so it was expected of him to reject. When he voiced it out, Ludwig muttered something about him being just like his mother and that he would let the kid have his way only that one time. Next time he would go train no matter what. In the end it only left the poor child lost.

So there he was, sitting in the kitchen table as he watched his mother cook food after food. She spoke in rapid speed on things he didn't understand. His father was out training for already a good few hours. The brown headed boy let his mind wonder to other things. Much to his misfortune and heartache, he thought back to his former family. He tried his best to ignore the thought of his former parents shunning him. He shook his head and turned his thoughts to his former siblings.

Now Rinaldo was an only child, something that he always wanted to be. He should be happy... really he should! He finally had a chance to have his parents' attention and didn't have to be given hand-me-downs that were worn out, unusable and outdated. Yet, he missed having siblings. He missed looking after his sister as the older protective brother. He missed hearing crazy and fascinating stories from his two eldest brothers about their jobs. He missed his twin older brothers, even though he never liked it when they pulled pranks on him. Still, the pranks were funny and brilliant in their own rights. He missed- alright, maybe _didn't_ miss the brat, but Percy did help him when he needed it.

Maybe, after all, it wasn't a good thing to be an only child. He never thought about it in a negative point of view until then. After all, when you have two best friends that are the only children of their families, and they didn't seem to have a problem with that, it was hard to view it as a bad thing.

"Rinaldo, come over here."

His mother called out. Rinaldo snapped out of his mind. He stared at her for a few moments before he realized what she said. He got up and went over.

There was something that he learned about his parents for the past week that gave him mix feelings. His mother was a loving woman, who cared deeply for her family and simply _loves_ to cook. She was rarely angry, and always had that bright sweet smile that comforted Rinaldo whenever he felt bad. His father was the opposite. The man was strict and preferred having a clean and organize house. He enjoyed exercising but mostly stayed in his office filling out paperwork. Even though Rinaldo's father seemed to be an emotionless person, he did care for the family and looked after them with the best intention.

Rinaldo found it rather funny. Two people with complete different personalities and interests threw their differences aside and got along well. Yet, from what he was told yesterday, the duo didn't really have the most stable friendship in the beginning. It made sense, since it was during the First World War that they've met. That left the child confused, because he never heard of such a war. The reaction to that was a whole other story.

Rinaldo listened to his mother as she explained to him how to make sauce, while she cooked it at the same time. He listened, surprisingly, with interest. Soon, he found himself helping her cook with her guidance. It was fun, he decided, to be given a chance to cook rather than just sit around with his chess board with nobody to play with. Now that he thought about it, maybe his new parents would like to have a round or two with him in chess. Rinaldo stopped what he was doing. He asked:

"Mom," He was still not used to call her that, with his previous family still so fresh in his mind. But he tried his best. "Do you think dad will play chess with me again?"

"Hm?" She questioned without looking up from her cutting the vegetables. "Si, I don't see why not. Doitsu doesn't have any paper work today. I'm sure he won't deny it."

That made Rinaldo's face brightens instantly. He asked eagerly:

"Do you know when dad's coming home?"

The woman hummed in thought as she finally stopped what she was doing and looked up at the clock. Tilting her head a little to the side, she finally answered:

"He should be home soon, but ask him after lunch."

Alice looked down at her son and her smile widened a little when she saw Rinaldo's face brighten at the news. The boy nodded and finished with his portion of the food. Just on time, the duo heard the front door open then close. The duo left the food alone to greet the head of the family.

-ooOOoo-

Rinaldo played muggle chess with his father in silence. It took him awhile to get used to it, but it wasn't really difficult. While he played wizarding chess, he never asked his pieces for advice. The only difference was that he had to life and moved them around. He looked up at his father for a few seconds to study his reaction to his recent move. He saw the man, once more, looked impressed and even seemed to frown a bit as he tried to decide on his next move. The younger of the two looked back down at the pieces. He watched as his father moved his knight finally, making it his turn now.

Rinaldo looked at the board. A smile bloomed across his face as he grabbed his Bishop then announced:

"Check!"

"Check mate"

The adult replied a few seconds afterwards. The child looked down in confusion, only to come face to face with his king cornered by his father's queen. He felt like banging his head against the table. _How_ in the world hasn't he noticed that? Much to his surprise, his brown hair was ruffled by the man.

"You did very well, sohn **(1)**."

"R-Really?"

The younger mumbled with embarrassment, his face reddened a little. His father always praised him whenever they played chess or done something else. It was something that he never really experienced beforehand with his other family.

"Ja **(2)** , you almost won, but next time be more careful."

Rinaldo nodded, happy that he had played, been praised and given advice by his father. All of a sudden, the duo heard the front door thrown open and a male voice boomed throughout the house:

" _Where's my_ awesome _neffe_ **(3)**?"

Something told Rinaldo that, whoever the voice belonged to, was nothing but trouble.

-ooOOoo-

A few days had gone by since Shaquila had reunited with her birth parents. After her separation from her best friends, she was taken to her mother's house. It was located just outside Paris. It contained one of the most beautiful views of the city. The house itself wasn't a normal sized home, but instead it was a mansion with decoration and beauty that rivaled that of Palace of Versailles. That same palace wasn't that far from them, actually.

The place had a big garden in the back. It contained many bushes that held different kinds of flowers of all kinds. If there was a fountain there then it would had been the perfect garden to sit down and read a book quietly. Instead, there was a huge apple tree in the middle that almost towered over the house itself, like a warrior that wouldn't go down without a fight. Shaquila decided then that the garden had no use for a fountain, because its beauty was nothing compared to the tree.

Shaquila had spent much of her time in the garden, but made sure to explore the rest of the house as well.

The first stop was her bedroom. Well, more like an _apartment_ than a normal sized bedroom. After she first discovered the ridiculous size, she had tried to speak with her new parents about moving into a smaller chamber. Unfortunately, for her, they refused. They argued that their daughter would have nothing but the best. After a long debate, she had gave in and accepted defeat. She decided that she would need to just adapt to it, just like the rest of the mansion.

Her bedroom was colored in a light shade of blue. It contained a bed that stood against the middle of one of the walls with curtains attached to the top. Aside from the ridiculous large size bed, the room contained the usual items that any other chamber had. There was a dresser, a desk, chair, etc... The only other thing that was different was the huge bookcase that contained lots of books. The sight of it made Shaquila almost jump up and down with joy, ready to grab a random book and read it until the next day.

The next stop was the library, which was _bigger_ than Hogwart's Library. She almost fainted when she walked in from happiness and shock. It was heaven- a dream come true! Forget Cinderella with the glass slipper and prince charming. Who needed those when you had a whole library waiting for you to discover? It appears that she got her love for books from her father, who was a big fan of all kinds of literature and non-fiction. Her mother also loved to read, but not as much and she much preferred to read non-fiction. She said something about not wanting to hallucinate like her husband did about magical creatures that didn’t exist. That was a whole other story that the daughter decided that was better to forget. The library itself was covered from top to bottom in all kinds of books. They varied from non-fiction to fiction. Many were written by either famous muggles or brilliant wizards or witches. So one could guess how hard it was to get her out of there. If it wasn't for her father's influence, she would have stayed there more than the garden.

Françoise's reaction when she discovered that her daughter got her thirst for knowledge from Arthur was pretty funny. She was completely floored. In her opinion, her daughter had inherited only her looks, because she had refused to flirt with boys and instead asked all kinds of questions about different types of subject. Don't get her wrong. As a mother, she was proud of how dedicated her daughter was to her studies. She even answered many of her questions. Yet, she wished that Shaquila was interested in boys even if it was a _little_. Well, at least she showed some interest in fashion.

Arthur, on the other hand, was a quite smug father when he figured it out. The last thing he needed was to chase off boys that were after her heart. Oh ho, just the thought of it made the man ready to take out his spell book and curse every boy that even looked at her the wrong way. Yes, that sounded like a good idea. He should get the ingredients and spell books ready, just in case his precious daughter decided that she wanted to date.

Unfortunately, for Shaquila, she wouldn't know what hit her until she was old enough to be interested in boys.

-ooOOoo-

Shaquila sat down in the garden under the big tree with a book in her hands. The book was written in French, by a French wizard that wrote about the French Revolution from the Wizarding World's point of view. It was interesting, but similar to the history that was taught in muggle schools about that time period. The only difference was that some of the people that were beheaded ended up being wizards and witches. By the time she finished the book, the young girl wanted to interrogate her mother about the French Revolution. She wanted to know what really happened during that time period. After all, who was better to speak to about the French Revolution other than the nation that it occurred in?

Shaquila got off of the ground and patted away the dirt that was on her knee length skirt. She turned around and walked back into the house. As she walked through the long golden hallways, her blue eyes studied everything. There were many statues, paintings and artifacts that caught her eyes, but never for too long. After all, she was more interested in knowledge that was shown through books rather than art.

During her long walk, she had tried to find her mother. After an hour passed, with little success, Shaquila went in search for her father. It didn't take her long, as he was in the library. He sat in an armchair that was near a fireplace with a book in his hands that was written in Latin, if the title had anything to say about it. _It is probably a magical book_ , Shaquila concluded.

It didn't take long for her father to notice her presence. He smiled at her and asked:

"Hello love, looking for another book?"

"Actually, I was looking for mother."

Arthur looked at her surprised, before a quick realization befallen him. He nodded with fathom and explained:

"Ah, she's probably still shopping."

Shaquila looked surprised. She asked with confusion:

"She left this morning and it's almost evening. Does she usually shop this long?" Arthur gave her a sour nod. "Then is it all right for me to ask you something?"

The man looked at her with curiosity. He snapped his book shut with one hand while he replied:

"What do you wish to know?"

"What was it like for mother during the French Revolution?"

A dark and sad look appeared in the man's green eyes. This made the daughter look at him in confusion at the reaction. She couldn’t figure out why he acted like this. Did she say something wrong? The blond man sat in silence for a few moments before he spoke with hesitation.

"It wasn't the greatest time. Your mother was often sick. She was often locked up in her room, refusing to come out no matter what. I tried to talk to her, to help her, but due to what was going on with America my hands were tied at that time."

His daughter walked up to him and sat down in a low seat. She asked:

"Did she start to act like that when the Revolution broke out?"

"No, she had been like that beforehand."

Shaquila looked at him with confusion.

"Why?"

"It was because of the prat Louis XVI and his dreadful wife Marie."

Arthur explained to her with much clear distaste towards the dead royals.

"Have you met them?"

The blond man nodded with displeasure.

"Unfortunately, I had. I couldn't stand being in the same room as them for more than 5 minutes, and let's just leave it at that."

"Wait a second, but how did they effect mother so badly?"

"Do you know how the French Revolution started?"

"Yes"

"There's your answer." Shaquila sent him a confused look, as she still didn't get it. Arthur looked away from his daughter, towards the fire. "Shaquila, love, nations may be immortal but we're not invincible. We _can_ die. If our economies are going downhill, then we're affected greatly, just like your mother had been."

"What about you? I take it that the American Revolution did the same thing to you?"

That question wasn't answered verbally, but physically. Shaquila watched as her father clenched onto the armchairs tightly at the question, to the point that his hands turned white. His head lolled downwards to face his lap. His eyes were covered by his short bangs. If they weren't, then one saw how sad, angry and betrayed his eyes looked. The city then realized that she shouldn’t have asked such a question. She felt horrible at what she had just done. Why couldn't she have kept her mouth shut? What could she had said to her father except for-

"I'm sorry"

"It's alright," Arthur replied in quiet softness. "You didn't know."

Shaquila got up and strolled towards her father. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. The man returned the hug gladly and soon relaxed.

The young city had then learned a few important lessons. One of them, the biggest, was to never mention the American Revolution to her father and the French Revolution to her mother.

The second, if she ever gets the 'pleasure' to meet America, she would teach him a _lesson_ that he would never forget for how he treated her father.

**(1) Son**

**(2) Yes**

**(3) Nephew**


	9. Chapter 9

It had been a few weeks since the trio had last seen each other. The three had used that time to get to know their parents. During that amount of time, they've learned a lot and felt at home.

For Custodio, he wasn't shunned nor abused by his parents. Instead, they've taught him many interesting things. His father taught him the Spanish culture. This included dancing, music and some of the crazy traditions that they had. Though, he had to admit, running away from a bull was both fun and terrifying. Of course, the first time he had done it he was both traumatized and almost killed. Yet, it only made him want to do it again and again. Other than that, Custodio found dancing and playing the guitar with his dad a lot of fun. Though, one dance he refused to learn was the salsa. The thought of the dance always made his face go red.

His mother had done the same as his father, minus the traditions. That was, unless you counted learning how to use guns as a tradition. It turned out that Custodio was quite good with the weapons, but preferred to use a pistol like his mother. The son then learned an important lesson. His mother was scary as hell, especially during training. Never in his life had he met such a terrifying, strict but yet a loving mother before. No, Mrs. Weasley didn't count, because she wasn't a nice lady as he found later on. His mom had taught him Italian dances, which he found less embarrassing and a lot of fun. He also had a lot of fun cooking with the woman, and learned many new recipes.

Rinaldo had the best time of his life. He was happy with his new parents, and almost forgot about his former family. But he did get homesick once in awhile when the thought of his former siblings came into mind. His mother was a sweet woman, who made sure to shower him with attention. She taught him many things, such as cooking and drawing. It turned out that he had a talent in art, which pleased the woman to no end. The duo were found, often, outdoors with painting supplies surrounding them or in hand. It was either that or in the art room that the house contained.

Rinaldo's father was a strange man, he found, and strict too. He trained the child every morning, which, ironic enough, the son didn't mind too much. Yes, he was still lazy, but he felt alive when he did training. He found himself taking morning jogs with his father, which turned into a routine. Rinaldo's father also had taken the time to show him how to use the electronics in the house. Soon, after he got the hang of using them, he had taken interest in how cars worked. His father was quite pleased, and taught his son in great detail about their inner parts.

Finally, Shaquila felt like she had finally found home. With her former parents, they were always at work. They rarely paid attention to what she had to say and showed little to no interest in her life in general. At times, they even neglected her when they needed peace and quiet. Most would call it abuse, but the girl never thought much of it because she always had her books as company. Yet, when it came to her birth parents it was completely different.

Shaquila's mother had taken her to the city that she represented. The sight was breathtaking. She fell in love with the place, the food, music and, ironic enough, fashion. If somebody last year had talked to her about fashion, she would have turned around and walked away. Instead, she found herself studding the art behind fashion. Her mother was thrilled, and even took her out shopping. Another thing that her former parents hadn't done was pay attention to what kind of clothing they got her. Neither of the duo had much fashion sense. So they always got her embarrassing clothes that made her a target for bullies, often. Now, she felt like she was beautiful and not some ugly know-it-all, like every kid pointed her out to be.

Shaquila's father was a, intelligent individual. She, often, found herself getting lost in their conversations. Most people around them stared at them dumbfounded. How in the world could a pre-teen speak of high subjects that even high school students couldn't keep up with? Shaquila had learned quite a bit from her father when it came to the knowledge section. Even though he was, what English wizards considered, a dark wizard, he taught her dark, light and gray magic. She had interrogated him to what were the differences between the three. He explained that there was no difference, except for the uses and levels of spells. Light magic contained spells that were easy to use and weren't made for battle. Dark magic contained spells that were harder to use and used in battles. Gray magic was the balance of the duos, as the spells contained could be mixed either way. It meant that they could be easy to use and for battle or the spells could be hard but not useful when it came to fights.

Today, the parents had a world meeting. The six adults had decided that all three children would come with them. They had only one reason, there was nobody to watch over them. So that was how the Golden Trio found them together, in a building, filled with other nations. They were quite happy to finally reunite, but it was awkward being among so many nations.

"What do we do?"

Rinaldo hissed towards his best friends. Both looked at him then at each other and shrugged at the same time. The trio then sat down together, in the waiting room, all alone, and brainstormed.

"How about we pull a prank?"

Custodio asked the duo. The children stared at him before his male best friend smirked. He jumped out of his chair with newfound excitement.

"Ye- ow!"

Rinaldo yelped in pain as he felt an elbow dig into his ribcage. He fell back onto the couch and held onto his left side. Shaquila looked over the couch towards the door. She waited for somebody to walk in to check out what the noise was all about. Nobody did. She sighed in relief. She glared at the blue eyed boy.

"Don't shout or they're going to hear us!"

She hissed at him.

"So, you're in too?"

Custodio asked with excitement. The blond nodded and gave them a twisted smirk with a mix of mischief and darkness.

"I have an idea on who to pull a prank on, and I have a plan."

The boys threw at her a startled look, but leaned in to listen.

-ooOOoo-

The conference room was filled with nations from all over the world. As usual, it was a complete chaos and it was only 4 hours in. The Golden Trio hid in the shadows, under the Invisibility Cloak. Custodio brought it in case he got bored, which he was along with his friends. They each had mischievous smiles stretched across their faces. It was a good thing that they knew illusion spells. Even better, that one spell that made only one individual to witness them. If they didn't, then they would have had to come up with a different plan.  Ah, the beauty of magic. 

All three took out their wands. Their parents took off the trackers to make homeschooling easier. The children thanked their parents in their minds, as they mumbled a spell. Then they sat back and watched as their prank started to unfold.

America spoke while he ate and drank, which irritated a lot of nations. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw something. He stopped, turned his head 90 degrees and saw a demonic creature stare at him. He dropped everything, which made quite a bit of a mess. It caused the closest nations to glare at him before they returned to their paperwork.

"Ah! A demon!" He screeched and hid behind England's chair. All the nations stopped what they did and stared at the blond nation like he was insane. When he pointed at the figure, they followed the finger and saw an empty spot. The weirded out looks only doubled when they returned to settle on America. The children held back their laughter as best as they could. America couldn't figure out why everyone looked at him with those expressions. He tried to convince them that there was a demon. Though, it didn't really work with how panicked and scared he acted. "Dudes, the demon is right there. How can't you see it?! I swear on my Freedom that it's right there. Yeek, it's getting closer!"

All the nations rolled their eyes at him.

"You've watched too many horror movies."

England stated with an unimpressed look. France looked more amused than anything that he was the 'shield' of the superpower nation. Her husband looked unamused at her.

"No I didn't. It's right there."

The demon illusion then ran to the powerful nation. America screamed like a little girl and fainted. All the nations either got up or stayed in their chairs and looked at the fainted nation. They looked back and forth between each other and the fainted man, unsure of what they thought. No, they knew what they thought. It was more so what they were going to do with America. In the end, they all shrugged and decided to end the meeting. All gave a silent relieved sigh now that the craziness settled down, for the most part.

The children got out of the room, unnoticed, got back into the waiting room and broke down into laughter. They heard footsteps come towards the waiting room. The trio got onto their feet and hid the cloak into Custodio's bag. After they got done, they sat back down onto the couch. The door opened and the trios' parents walked in. The children welcomed them and left with the adults to head back home. All three felt satisfied with how well the prank worked out. The most satisfied person of them all, was Shaquila.

She got her revenge.


	10. Chapter 10

"What?! Mom, Dad, you can't be serious." A child's voice echoed throughout the house. The child didn't stop there though, "Are you seriously going to let Uncle Prussia babysit me? Have you lost your minds? That guy can't even look after himself."

The father, Germany, exhaled through his nose. He pinched the bridge of his nose to gather his thoughts. His wife frowned at the way their son launched out at them in anger, panic and disbelief. The blond adult fathomed to why his son acted such a way. After all, his older brother had scared the poor child in their first meeting. He could only imagine what his son was going through at the moment. He tried to explain once more.

"Rinaldo, I understand you don't like the idea at all. But your mutti (1) and I are going to Japan's home for an important meeting. We'll be back on Friday morning."

Friday was in two days, and they were to leave tomorrow morning at 9. Rinaldo knew that they would be back on that day. After all, nations always had the weirdest of ways to travel. So, it wasn't that hard to believe them, but still-

"Can't I go with you?"

Rinaldo hopes got crushed when he saw that both his parents shook their heads.

"Why him?"

Once more he tried, in hopes that the question would corner his parents to agree and change their minds. Unfortunately, it seemed that fate was against him for some reason. His mother answered for once.

"Nobody else is available sono (2), mi dispiace (3)."

"I can look after myself."

There, one last shot. If they still refuse to let him stay alone, then he had no choice, but at least he tried. His father's eyebrow twitched at that comment. The man crossed his arms over his chest and glared at his son.

"The last time we left you alone at home you set the television on fire and almost burned down the house."

Rinaldo looked at the ground in embarrassment. It wasn't exactly his fault. How was he supposed to know that television didn't react well to water? If he knew that then he would have never gotten close to the big box with the moving pictures with a glass of water in hand. The memory of that made the child blush hard and almost bang his head against the nearest wall. Finally, he sighed in defeat. His head hung with dark depressing aura around him. His mother looked sad at him for a few moments then brightened up at an idea.

"You can always have your little friends over for the day."

Rinaldo's head shot up. His blue eyes widened in shock.

"R-R-Really? I can have them come over?" He received a nod in which he shouted in excitement. "Yes! Thank you mom, dad, you guys are the best."

Without another word, and a quick hug, he ran out of the office in excitement. It had been weeks since he last saw or heard from his best friends. Also, he wouldn't have to suffer alone. Maybe they could come up with ways to keep his uncle away? Hm... Rinaldo should get some supplies in the ready. After all, one should always be prepared when it came with that crazy and insane man. The mere thought of his uncle made the brown headed child shiver.

Germany sighed at his son's behavior. He ran his hand through his blond hair wondering what was going on with his wife's mind. Yet, he knew that there was no point in asking.

"I'll go call Katarina and big sister France."

North Italy exclaimed with her usual cheerfulness. He gave her a simple nod and watched from behind his desk as she walked out to make the phone calls. Well, at least he didn't have to deal with those two women. He could already imagine if he did, South Italy would curse at him nonstop and France... well... he didn't want to go further into that thought. Knowing that perverted woman she could take the invitation the wrong way. Germany sighed in relief then went back to organize his paperwork for the meeting.

-ooOOoo-

Today was the day, where his life was about to come to an end and the only people that could hold him down would be there. He ate breakfast with his parents and all three stood next to the doorway. It was then that the doorbell rang for the first time. It was 8 o'clock. He watched as his dad opened the door. The child with subconscious hid behind his mother in fear that it was his uncle. The door swung open and the brown headed child almost collapsed in relief. It was only Shaquila and her father.

The whole time Rinaldo shamelessly stared at the Englishman's giant eyebrows. Next thing he knew he got smacked in the back of his head. He yelped at the sudden action and held his head. He turned his head and saw that it was Shaquila. She glared at him.

"Don't be rude Rinadlo. At least say hello."

"Hi," The boy muttered while he rubbed the sore spot. He noticed that she had a big blue backpack on her back. He asked with confusion. "What's with the bag?"

"You'll see later"

The smirk on her face made him regret that he invited her over.

While the best friends did their usual reunion, the adults talked with each other for a bit. After a few minutes, England said farewell to his daughter with the promise to pick her up in the evening and left.

It didn't take long for the next doorbell to ring. Once more Rinaldo stiffened at the thought of his uncle. His best friend frowned at his reaction. She made a mental note to interrogate him later. The door once more opened, only to reveal Custodio and his father. Shaquila almost shirked when she saw what appeared to be a soul coming out of Rinaldo's mouth. She grabbed his collar and started to shake him hard.

"Rinaldo snap out of it."

Custodio came over right away. He stared, startled, at his male best friend's' reaction.

"What happened to him?"

"I don't know, but it seems that I have no choice."

Custodio watched Shaquila with confusion. He jumped a good foot into the air in shock when he saw her slap the knocked out Rinaldo like the world depended on it. He panicked.

"S-S-Shaquila don't kill him."

Spain stared at the reunion then laughed.

"They're having fun."

Italy voiced her agreement, while Germany held back from face palming.

"Where's Katarina? I thought she was going to drop Custodio off."

The female nation asked her brother-in-law. The brown headed Spanish man sighed. He scratched the back of his head for a moment to figure out a reply, since there were children present.

"She has some business to do underground."

He finally answered. Italy's eyes snapped opened for the first time that morning. They held a certain touch of darkness, something that only came out when it came to the mafia.

"I see..."

The two men felt a shiver go down their spine at the tone. This North Italy was as scary as her sister when it came to the underground world. Last thing they wanted to do was get in her way. Spain chuckled with nervousness.

"Well, I should get back home." He turned his attention to his confused son that still stared at his friends. "Custodio, I'll be back in the evening. Be a good boy and don't give Prussia too much trouble, okay?"

His son looked up and pouted.

"I'm not that bad!"

Spain chuckled. He ruffled his son's hair with affection. His son gave him a tooth full smile and waved goodbye as his father left.

"Mr. Germany, Mrs. Italy, what's wrong with Rinaldo? He acted like he saw a ghost."

After a bit, Shaquila asked with worrisome. She looked over with her blue eyes at Rinaldo's figure. He got placed on the couch to rest a couple of minutes ago to recover from the shock. The young female city had never seen such reaction out of anybody. Yeah, ever since she got introduced to the Wizarding World she saw a good number of people become shocked over many things, but to the point of fainting? That was something she had never encountered before. His father was the one to answer her.

"He'll be all right. Give him 5 minutes. He's only relived to know that instead of his uncle it was your friend Custodio that came through that door."

"Why would he be relieved?"

Custodio voiced out with curiosity. Italy looked at the children with an amused look.

"It seems Gilbert had left quite an impression the last time they met."

Custodio and Shaquila looked at each other with confusion then back to the adults. As they predicted, it was only a few minutes until Rinaldo finally came back to reality. His best friends pretty much dragged him outside to the garden.

"Talk!"

They demanded at the same time. The brown headed city looked at the both of them. He held back a pout at their actions and crossed his arms.

"I don't like my uncle."

"Why?"

The blond female asked with confusion.

"I... I can't explain it... I'm afraid that you guys will have to see for yourselves."

The two best friends looked quite confused by now. That guy couldn't be that bad.

-ooOOoo-

_"Fate!" A female's' voice yelled in an outrage. The man that sat in his chair froze. He recognized the voice straight away. He tried to stay calm, but the woman that the voice belonged to wouldn't have any of it. A tall female appeared on his side. She grabbed his ear and pulled on it so hard that it forced him to stand. "What is it that I hear about you kidnapping children!?"_

_Fate winced at the force she pulled on his ear. He tried to stay as calm as always, even in the face of danger._

_"Mother, will you please let go of my ear?"_

_"No! Now answer my question."_

_His mother, also known as Time by humans, was a strange being. She had this strange habit to change her appearance from a child, to a young woman then finally to an elderly woman. Nobody in the family fathomed to why she did that, but none had the guts to ask. She was a scary woman. At the moment she looked like in her mid-30s. The man held back a wince when she pulled onto his ear again._

_"Mother, if you want to yell at anybody make it be Chaos. She was the one that forced me to take those children away from their parents."_

_"I don't care whose fault it is." His mother begun, a little too calmly and sweet. "I want you to go apologize to their parents, do you hear me young man?!"_

_For once Fate had an emotion showed on his fate, horror._ Apologize _to_ humans _?! That was the worst thing one could do when as high beings such as himself and his family. Last time that he spoke with humans was over a millennium ago, to which caused problems to no end for him and his family. There was only one difference: the one that he spoke to was a mortal, this time it would be nations. He pulled out of his mother's grip. His eyes looked at her face, ready to fight back, but the look that she gave him made him gulp and take a few steps back. He held back a sigh. He agreed, to his annoyance._

_"Fine, I'll do it, but don't come blaming me if something bad happens like the last time we spoke to humans."_

_Time smiled proudly at her son. She kissed both of his cheeks and petted his head like he was a little child. He held back a scowl at the action. He was the eldest child, but yet got treated like he was 5. When she disappeared to go back to her job, he sighed loudly. He heard a yawn from the darkness._

_"You really made aunty angry this time. I thought you would have been a goner for a second there."_

_The mysterious voice spoke up with a hint of humour. Fate ignored the individual. He had some business to do._

**(1) - Mom/Mother**

**(2) - Son**

**(3) - I'm sorry**


	11. Chapter 11

Custodio and Shaquila had different reactions to the sight in front of them. The former had his mouth hung open in confusion and shock. The latter's left eyebrow twitched every few seconds in annoyance. In front of them Rinaldo had made a fort with lots of pillows and pointy objects sticking out of them. He wore a military helmet that was a bit too big on him and what seemed to be a real rifle positioned towards the bedroom's door.

"Rinaldo, _what_ in the _world_ are you doing!"

Shaquila asked as calmly as possible.

"What does it look like?"

The blue eyed boy stared at his best female friend as if she was crazy. Custodio asked next:

"Where did you get a rifle...?"

Better yet, _how_ does Rinaldo know about rifles?

The German capital turned his attention to the Spanish capital. He said casually:

"Oh, from dad, I would have taken the pistol from mom but she put them somewhere else before I could get to them."

Custodio and Shaquila looked at each other in shock and fright. Rinaldo plus any kind of gun equals disaster. They silently agreed to either keep the guns away from him, or, in this case, stay out of his way or, if they can, get him to snap out of his bizarre behavior. The French capital stated:

"Okay, your uncle _cannot_ be that bad."

"You don't even know him!"

"That doesn't matter! Unless he's abusive then we have nothing to worry about, but since our parents seem to trust him that's clearly not the case!"

Rinaldo couldn't even make a comeback for that. So, he settled down with an annoyed glare. Custodio finally voiced out:

"Well, we _could_ drive him away."

The two other capitals stared at the other as if he had lost. Rinaldo asked:

"Drive him away?"

"Yeah! You know our fashion."

Realization struck the other two children. A dangerous smirk made its way onto Rinaldo's face.

"Let's do it"

-ooOOoo-

_Fate sat down his normal armchair. In front of him was the globe, hovering in the air with laziness. It showed him the children, as they huddled together in a group whispering to each other. He shook his head lightly at their childish behaviors. He had a feeling that his uncle, Fools, have taken over them, but since he would have known about it if that was the case it was highly unlikely. In front of him were three couches, each one had enough space for two people. Why did he have to talk to those nations? Oh, that's right, because his mother would be on his ass if he didn't apologize._

_He still thought it was a bad idea._

_All of a sudden, a loud_ POP _was heard with yelps following right after. Fate looked up lazily, to come face to face with 6 nations, 3 men, 3 women, as they landed in a pile on each couch. There were soft groans or moans of dizziness and pain._

_"What happened?"_

_The English man asked as he rubbed his head while getting off of his wife._

_"Welcome"_

_"Where the fuck are we?!"_

_One of the Italian women shouted after she pushed her husband off of her with a kick. She got up and looked straight at Fate with such a glare that if looks could kill he would be dead and not even Death would be able to rescue him. The man in the armchair used his powers to force them to seat down, but he did not silence them since he knew it made the situation worse. He thanked his mother, uncles and aunts mentally, since they kept his sister and cousins away from him at the moment. Last thing he needed was those morons doing or saying something stupid._

_"You're in my domain. I'm Fate or Destiny if you'd rather call me that."_

_The nations stared at him with narrowed eyes with disbelief._

_"Why are we here monsieur?"_

_France asked cautiously. She wasn't sure if to believe him or not, but at the moment she had no choice._

_Fate sighed mentally. He knew the outcome, but unfortunately, for him, their reactions was out of his control._

_"I've brought you here to apologize in person for taking your children away from you." There was silence, which didn't last longer than a second. The nations were in uproar, the women more so than the men. They tried to attack the man, but they couldn't get up. Fate waited for the women to stop screaming at him. After a bit they were silenced by their husbands with a look or a simple action. "I have a reason to do so." Fate continued, "I'm sure you're all aware of Voldermort." All of the nations nodded, "Good. Now, I needed somebody to stop him. I usually left the magical communities in the hands of my aunt, but at the moment she has no control over them. She has asked of me to make a warrior, or warriors, that will fight and beat Voldermort. I have marked three mortal children-"_

_"Then why did you take our children away from us?"_

_Spain cut Fate off. His green bright eyes now were dark. He looked ready to murder the man in front of him. The great being sighed. He said calmly:_

_"Let me continue explaining. Now where was I? Oh yes, but my sister, Chaos, has gotten in the way and has gotten the three mortal children killed on the day they were born. I needed a plan and fast. I had already announced a prophecy through a seer of the fate of the world. There was no way to go back on it. It was then that I saw your children. The powers that they've shown was great. They were more powerful than the mortal chosen ones. They were blessed by my aunt with magic. I decided that they would be the new chosen ones. So, I took them away and placed them in the homes of the mortal parents. They were put on the same road as the previous chosen ones."_

_"That means you weren't going to give them back to us!"_

_Germany barked in anger. He too glared with much hatred towards Fate, whom didn't looked fazed at the sudden outburst. Although he did object to the accusation:_

_"No, I was going to return them_ after _they'll finish their job. But I decided to return them a bit earlier than planned."_

_"What's the condition?"_

_England asked, his eyes narrowed dangerously. He hated being in debt, no matter to whom it was. For once, Fate smirked. He said coolly:_

_"They'll return to Hogwarts for the next few years. After they finish off Voldermort, they're all yours."_

_This time, there was no outburst. Instead, North Italy asked the question that was on everybody's minds:_

_"What if we refuse?"_

_"Then you'll never see them again. The children will have their memories of you six blocked away, they'll return to the path that I've put down for the previous chosen ones and I'll erase your memories of the location that they're in."_

_At that, all the nations at once sent him death glares. They felt so useless, so weak! What could they do? The answer, nothing. There were quiet murmurs among the group, with small nods of agreement._

_"Fine, but after they defeat Voldermort you leave all of us alone, forever."_

_"Deal"_

_With that, another popping sound was heard. Once more, Fate was alone._

_Well, at least now his mother wasn't going to be on his ass._

-ooOOoo-

When the parental nations returned back to Earth, they dropped everything that they did or planned to do. All six made their way to Germany's and North Italy's house as quickly as possible. As, they got there, the door flunk open and a dirty looking Prussia came out. His hair was bright, _bright_ , green. His clothes all messed up with all kinds of neon colors flashing at everybody's faces. The parental nations stared at him in shock. The man laughed:

"Keseseses! You're finally here! The awesome me is going to announce that-"

"What the fuck happened to you?"

South Italy cut the man off rudely as she stared with distaste at his clothes.

"My awesome nephew and his awesome friends that's what!"

Prussia announced loudly. Okay, now the other nations were lost. Why was he so happy?

"Amigo, you look like a mess. Why are you happy?"

Spain asked tiredly. At some points, he couldn't fathom as to why his best friend acted the way he did. The neon dressed nation announced loudly with pride:

"My awesome nephew and his awesome friends will be the Bad Touch Trio's successors!"

"What?! No!!!!!"

A familiar voice behind Prussia shouted in distress. Everybody looked behind the red eyed nation to look at a distressed Rinaldo, an annoyed looking Shaquila and guilty looking Custodio. England sighed deeply then asked tiredly:

"What were you three thinking?"

The children trio looked at each other quickly. All three said as innocently as possible:

"Nothing"

In the end, all three were grounded for a week and now had the _Successors of Bad Touch Trio_ on top of their title _Golden trio_. That wasn't the worst part. The worst part, for Rinaldo, was that his uncle was going to _train_ him and his best friends to become successors. All they wanted to do was drive the man away!


	12. Chapter 12

It was July 31st. It was the day that Custodio turned 13. The month was eventful. He had gone to his best friend's' birthdays', had gotten to know his parents much better and learned so many things that he never thought he'd known otherwise. Although something was off that day. When he woke up, he was greeted by 'happy birthday' from his parents with presents from them. No, that wasn't what was odd. What was odd was the fact that they looked grim, even though they tried their best not to show it. It wasn't the first time that they had those looks, as well as anger or frustration attached.

At first Custodio believed that they had enough of him. Although when he really thought about it, that wasn't the case. It was ever since they left him with his best friends under Mr. Prussia's care that they started to act odd. They always looked at the window, as if they awaited for something to happen. They kept a closer eye on him, as if he would disappear on them if they turned away for just a second. The newfound teenager wasn't sure anymore as to what was going on in their minds, and it was one of those times that he wished to had the power to be able to do so. He wished to fathom their fears. He wished to be able to calm those fears down and tell them that everything would be all right. Unfortunately, he couldn't do so due to his lack of knowledge.

Custodio sighed softly. His fingers on the strings stopped, forcing the guitar in return to halt. He looked up at the nature around him. He was outside. Simply to enjoy his new guitar, which was gifted to him by his parents, while he awaited for his best friends to arrive for his birthday. His new guitar was purely emerald green, matching that of his previous eyes. There was a few stickers on it that he put on personally, most of which were flags but one was a tomato. The reason why he got a new one was because his old one broke when he by accident dropped it down the stairs. He nearly had a heart attack with the thought that his parents were about to kill him when they found out. Thankfully, they didn't and promised to get him a new one but never said when. He was quite surprised to discover that it was on his birthday, and that he got a very beautiful one at that too!

Custodio was in such a deep thought that he hadn't noticed his father walked over until the man sat down next to him. The child nearly jumped out of his skin in fright at the sudden appearance. His father chuckled in amusements, which caused the younger of the two to pout.

"Dad, don't do that!"

"Sorry hijo, didn't mean to scare you."

The young child looked up at his father. He frowned at the amused smile that was sent towards his direction. He so wanted to whip that smile off his father's' face, but didn't do it because he had other things on his mind. It seemed that his father had caught onto that, because the next thing he said was:

"Do you want to pick up the tomates with me? They are ready."

Custodio gave a small nod. He put his guitar on the desk which was on the wooden deck, grabbed the big straw basket, which was beside the wooden staircase, then ran off towards his father before both made their way towards the big tomato garden. It was a tradition quickly adopted by the small family since Custodio came back. Custodio picked out the tomatoes with his father, while he checked on their progress with his mother. Although the child still had the choice to not do it if he didn't wished to, but he has yet to refuse.

The father and son picked out the tomatoes in comfortable silence. The adolescent tried to put the big heavy basket on his head, but it felt like the weight of the straw basket started to squish his skull down to the point that it felt like he wouldn't have much of a round head left. An amused laughter was heard from the other individual. The basket was taken off of the younger's head. Custodio looked up while rubbing the back of his head with annoyance.

"Dad!" Custodio protested. "Come on! If you and mom can do it so can I!"

"It takes years of practice hijo."

Spain teased his son while putting the basket on his own head, showing off how easy it was. He turned back to pick at the higher tomatoes, only to put them into the basket. His shirt was tugged with a familiar protest:

"Dad! Come on! Dad! Damnit give me the basket! I'm not 2, I'm 13! I'm not a kid anymore. I've already done things that are mostly for adults!"

"You're still a child Custodio. You can carry the lighter basket back to the house. Leave the heavier one to me."

Spain scowled his son. It was true, while the adolescent went to grab onto the larger basket, his father had taken the smaller one that was always at the side of the tomato garden. Although that wasn't what upset the man. What upset him was what the teenager said in the end, _I've already done things that are mostly for adults._ He didn't liked the thought of the human family his son was forced to live with and made into a slave. He mentally applauded his wife in making their life hell. If she hadn't done so he still had his old battle axe down in the basement, all polished and sharpened, ready to be used.

Custodio held back a pout, but didn't argue since he knew there wasn't much of a point. The duo stared at each other for a second before they both went back to picking out the tomatoes. Once more there was silence, but this one wasn't as peaceful as the last one. The Spanish man hummed a light nameless tone, which forced down his anger at the humans, while the younger one thought back to the behavior of his parents. Out of nowhere, the brown headed child asked:

"Dad, what's wrong? You and mom have been acting really weird for a while now."

Spain's hand was only midway towards the last tomato when he heard the question. The man stopped what he did to turn his attention back to the child. He blinked a few times slowly as the question registered what was just said to him. Slowly, a frown appeared.

"What makes you think that?"

Custodio shuffled a bit, his eyes moved around to stare at his surroundings before they finally made contact with his father's'. He replied:

"Ever since we got back from Mr. Germany's and Mrs. Italy's house, you and mom have been acting weird."

Spain was silent once again. He thought back to the talk later on the evening of that day with his wife, whether or not they should tell their son about what happened. In the end, they decided against it and settled down with simply keeping an eye on him. Unfortunately, they have underestimated the young adolescent. He may be a carefree spirit, but they had forgotten that he was a survivor of abuse and, mostly importantly, their child.

"What do you think about the idea of going back to Hogwarts this year?"

Custodio's green eyes widened in shock at the question. Okay, he hadn't expected that.

"You're letting me go back to Hogwarts?"

He wasn't sure if he was excited or not. On one hand, the school took a special place in his heart. On the other hand, for the last two years something always went out to kill him and he ended up both times face to face with Voldermort.

"Yes, you're allowed to go back to continue to study, but do you want to?"

The man frowned lightly at the reaction. His sharp eyes caught the hesitation and excitement in his son's eyes and body language.

"Y-" Custodio started, automatically about to say 'yes' but stopped himself. That was what his subconscious wanted, to head back to Hogwarts for another adventures year. His heart on the other hand was here, where his _real_ and _living_ family and best friends were. He finally announced, "I'll think about it"

Spain nodded slowly.

"All right, but let your madre and I know what you decided by the end of the day."

Custodio agreed. He grabbed the last tomato, which was short enough for him to reach, and put it into his small basket that contained about 15 tomatoes. He lifted it up then put it onto his head. Without much of a word, both headed back to the house for lunch.

-ooOOoo-

Shaquila frowned deeply as she re-read the same sentence for the fifteenth time. Silently, she slammed the book closed before putting it back into one of the many shelves in the library. Her mind was completely out of it today... or more like lately. She had a feeling that something weird took place among her family. Her parents have been quieter than usual ever since the incident with Mr. Prussia. At first, she thought they were upset about her behavior, but quickly found out that it wasn't that at all.

Pranks weren’t common among the nations, but it wasn't a rarity.

The first signs that she noticed was that her parents mostly sat together in silence, as if they had a conversation in their mind instead verbally. At times when they had spoken, they quickly shut up about whatever the topic was whenever she was in ear shot. It drove the French capital up the wall, to the point that she couldn't even concentrate on her daily reading. She wanted to know what they spoke about that was so urgent that they hadn't spoken with her.

Shaquila turned around on her hills, her hair flipped towards the direction and she walked out of the library in a sour mood.

On her way towards her bedroom, she bumped into her mother. The French nation looked down at her daughter, whom greeted her quietly with a clear irritated tone:

"Bonjour mother"

"Is something the matter amour?"

"I'm fine, I thought you went to talk with your Prime Minister?"

Shaquila interrogated right back. She raised a thin eyebrow questionably as she stared at her mother with identical blue suspicious eyes. France looked slightly uncomfortable.

"Amour, I wish to talk to you about something. Come."

The mother turned around and left. Her daughter blinked a few times in confusion, but quickly followed her mother. The walk was quiet but fast. It was to the point that the teenager had to jog a bit to catch up. By the time that they reached the other side of the house, the young adolescent had to catch her breath a bit from all of that jogging. Her mother opened a door at the end of the hallway, which, now that Shaquila thought about it, was one of those rooms that she wasn't allowed to be in and all muggles that came into the building completely ignored as if they saw nothing but a wall.

The room inside wasn't too big nor too small. On one side there was a large bookshelf filled with books. Next to it there were two cupboards, one on top of the other. In the middle of the room there was a large table, covered with potion ingredients and a few cauldrons, an equal amount scales and about a dozen of phials neatly put in a row, some with liquids or gasses inside of them while many were empty. On the opposite wall of the bookshelf there was a large poster that showed all the ruins there were and underneath there was, in small neat handwriting, a brief definition as to what that symbol was and what it was used for, in both English and French.

Without interrogating or asking her mother for permission, Shaquila quickly walked up to the said poster. She stared up at it, to the point that her throat stretched due to the need to pull her head further back. Her eyes fell onto the symbols, as she tried to figure out what they were. She had never seen such things before! Was it taught at Hogwarts? Her thought was put on hold when her mother pulled her out of her thoughts.

"Shaquila"

Shaquila looked up at her mother's' disapproved look. She blushed in embarrassment then looked down.

"Sorry mother"

France didn't say anything. Instead, she continued to stare at her daughter in silence. After what felt like hours, she finally spoke softly:

"This is mine and Angleterre's magic room, but mostly your father's'. I don't really deal with magic, but when I do I come here."

"Why didn't you and father let me in here?"

Shaquila asked. The blush was gone and now she looked at her mother curiously.

"This room contains not the friendliest objects. You have only two years’ worth knowledge of magic, which isn't enough to be able to fight off whatever is in here."

"But I read-"

The blond teenager tried to protest, but France cut her off.

"Reading will get you so far. What you need is skill, and while reading is good it won't give you much help when you're in a tight situation."

"Then why am I here?"

Shaquila asked bitterly. She was just given permission to enter such an amazing place but yet her mother said, 'Look but don't touch'. It wasn't fair! France raised an eyebrow at her daughter's attitude. She replied calmly, making a note to teach her daughter some manners later:

"I have my reasons amour, but I want you to answer me this. Do you want to go back to Hogwarts?"

Shaquila was very surprised at the question. She was allowed to go back to Hogwarts? She was so sure that she would never get to lay her eyes on the ancient magical castle again. Well, if she told her parents about the dangers that took place in that school for the last two years, it was very unlikely that she would be let back. She did wonder though, were her friends going to go there too? She didn't voiced it, but instead said:

"Can I think about it for a bit?"

"Of course, but don't take too long. Now, go get ready for your ami de birthday party. Your père and I will be at the sitting room waiting for you in an hour."

"Of course mother. Can I come back here after we return?"

Her mother had a look of distaste when her blue eyes looked around the dark, gloomy, room as if it was contagious. She said slowly:

"Maybe, but only if your père will be in here with you."

Shaquila smiled brightly. She thanked her mother then ran off to get ready for Custodio's birthday party.

-ooOOoo-

Rinaldo was at the garden in the back of the house. There was a glass table outside with four chairs on all sides tugged in except one, which was occupied by the said teenager. He sketched in his big sketchbook. Line after line he made. There were clinging noises as he put down a pencil then picked another one up. His sky blue eyes stared at nothing but the paper. His attention was nothing but the said object. Everything else around him was blocked out in favor of finishing this sketch that he ever so carefully drew for the last few weeks.

At last, Rinaldo put down the pencil in favor of opening his color pencils box. Tilting the box in a 25 degrees angle, the colorful pencils slid out of it with ease until there was nothing left in the hollow box. The brown headed child grabbed the red sharp color pencil then started to color the grey and white page. The only sound that he was conscious of was that of the color pencil. The blue eyes held much sadness with a hint of fondness. In front of him he drew his previous siblings:

Ginny, the twins, Percy, Charlie and Bill.

Rinaldo, with a heavy heart, continued to color in the very realistic picture of his previous siblings. He missed them, dearly. The only way to get into contact with them was through owl, and that didn't go according to plan. Molly had found out about his letters and the last time he sent an owl over there he was sent back, dead. The only siblings he had any contact with were his three eldest brothers. The two eldest ones were in shock due to the fact that their little 'brother' was in fact adopted. They were disgusted at their parents when they found out that he was disowned for something that was out of his control and forbidden to so much as come visit the family that have raised him since birth. They sent to him more letters than they had to his previous parents, who he had yet to decide if it was a good thing or only made the situation worst. He had received letters from the rest of his siblings, but there weren't that many.

Overall, Rinaldo missed them.

Communication was different with them in letters. If only he heard their voices he would be happier. He wanted to laugh with them. He wanted to play with them. Heck, he tolerated the stupid pranks just to be around them. He'd even hug his previous sister, which beforehand was a big no-no, just to know that they were there. He regretted his wish to be an only child now more than ever. Not that he hated his birth parents, mind you, but being an only child was very... lonely. How in the world had Custodio and Shaquila managed to be only children and be happy about it?

Rinaldo sighed softly as he put down the red color pencil, only to pick up another color. His mind went through years of memories. He pushed all his emotions and thoughts into the picture. By the time that he finally finished, the sun already was on its way to set down, darkness followed it with the moon and the stars. The young teenager was in such a deep mind that he hadn't heard the door to the back open then close. What snapped him out of it was when a gentle hand rested on his shoulder. Rinaldo snapped out of his mind, startled at the sudden action. He looked up and saw his mother look down at him with her eyes, as usual, closed.

"Hey mom"

Rinaldo greeted softly.

"Figlio you've been out here for hours."

"I have?"

The adolescent asked in shock, not once had he realized what time was. He thought he was out there for about an hour or two, not too long. His mother hummed.

"Si, it's nearly 5 and you still have to go to your amico di party which is at 6, remember?"

"Oh," Rinaldo replied lamely. He looked away from his mother back to the colored drawing. He wasn't very good to express his emotions, but he needed to ask his mother something very important that was connected with them, "Mom... is it wrong that I still see them as siblings?"

Rinaldo had told his parents about his brothers and sister. He revealed only a bit that he missed them dearly, but not much else was said about that subject.

A small frown appeared on the woman's face. Her brown eyes slowly opened, which revealed a serious, but yet an understanding, look. She took the seat next to her son. She looked at the picture that he had drawn and colored, impressed at how far his talent has gone. Although she wasn't sure if she was happy about the subject that he had drawn about. Not that she hated the human children. In fact, she would have loved to meet them, but every time they were brought up she watched her happy son change into a depressed one. It was rare for nations to become pregnant, since almost all of them, with a few exceptions, were born from Mother Earth. So, the chances to become pregnant was close to none. Just the announcement of **_three_** pregnancies so close to each other has driven all the nations around the world running around like chickens without their heads, especially the fathers of the said unborn babies.

Finally, Italy announced softly:

"It's not wrong that you see them as your siblings"

"But I'm not related to them any longer-"

"That may be true," His mother cut Rinaldo off gently. Her hand once more rested on his shoulder. "But that doesn't mean that you can't continue to view them as your fratelli and sorella."

"But they're humans-"

"So?"

At that Rinaldo wasn't sure how to answer the question. Why did it matter? There were so many reasons as to why it didn't mattered, but the thing that bothered him the most was the fact that he ages so slowly and in a blink of an eye they ended up old or dead, due to being humans. As if his mind was read, his mother once more said:

"Rinaldo, all of us nations have someone that we view as a fratello or sorella even if we're not related by blood. We also have become close to humans over the years. You're not alone. This isn't a sin."

"Mom..."

Rinaldo said quietly, his eyes started to water. Once more he was speechless. His mother brought him into a comforting hug, which he didn't protested and instead welcomed it and even hugged her back. The two stayed like that for a bit before both pulled away slowly. The Italian nation asked:

"Rinaldo, do you want to go back to Hogwarts?"

Rinaldo looked at her surprised, his eyes were red from the crying and there was a bit of stain on his cheeks. His mouth hung open a bit in shock at what he heard. All of the sadness disappeared in a flash in favor of understanding what was just said to him. He was allowed to go back to Hogwarts? His parents would really let him go back? He thought that he'd continue his training later on in life after settling down a bit longer. On the brighter side, he was able to once more lay his eyes upon the Weasley children!

"I... I..."

Rinaldo tried to say his opinion, but his brain failed him at that moment.

"You can answer your papà and me later on in the evening." His mother said, not waiting for an answer. She got up and kissed him on the forehead. "Go wash up and get ready, we'll be leaving in half an hour."

All Rinaldo could do was nod dumbly, still shocked. His mother left him. The German capital finally snapped out of his shocked state. He quickly gathered his stuff and ran to his bedroom. He had to get ready!

-ooOOoo-

The party wasn't overly crowded. Some nations came to wish the Spanish capital a happy birthday, bringing presents while at it. Most of them, though, were the three couple parents. It didn't matter to Custodio, because he quickly managed to get away from everybody to his bedroom where he sat down on his large bed with his best friends. All three were silent. Their fake cheerfulness was gone, replaced with that of uncertainly and confusion. The trio hadn't spoke for what felt like a long time. The first one that broke the silence was the birthday boy.

"Mom and dad are letting me go back to Hogwarts this year."

Rinaldo and Shaquila snapped out of their deep thoughts and stared at the third person in the room in shock. The French capital announced in slight disbelief:

"Mine are letting me go too"

"Me three" Rinaldo revealed, "Are you guys going?"

The two other newly teenagers looked at each other before back to the third one as if they tried to read the other's' thoughts.

"I don't know." Custodio revealed. "I'd like to, but with the past two years..."

"Yes, the last two years weren't the best, but we can't simply throw our education away!" Shaquila opposed passionately. "We're given a chance to continue it."

"And you chose to go? Just for _stupid_ education that you can do later on in your life?"

Rinaldo snarled with annoyance.

"Well... I..."

The blond tried to figure out her wording, but came up with nothing.

"No, Shaquila is right... education is pretty important." Custodio got in between of, what appeared to be, a beginning of another fight. "As much as I hate to see what'll happen in our third year, I would really like to go back... but I disagree at the same time." That got him questioning looks. He explained, "We've been with our parents for only a month. We're still settling down. I'd rather get to know the nations more, especially my parents, rather than go study on board for 8 to 9 months of the year with only a few weeks in between to see mom and dad again. We can ask Shaquila's dad to tutor us, since he's the most familiar with Hogwarts education system. We can request to take our third year exams in June."

"My parents asked me to make a decision this evening... I guess it's the same with you two?"

Shaquila asked. She received two nods. None of them were surprised anymore, but they were curious as to why their parents asked the three of them on the same day.

"So... we've decided?"

Rinaldo interrogated his best friends next, with hesitation. The two other adolescents nodded in agreement.

"Let's go talk with our parents after the party."

-ooOOoo-

The party ended late into the evening.

"We've decided that we wanted to stay. We'll go back to Hogwarts in our fourth year."

The children announced.

-ooOOoo-

_In the unknown dimension, Fate actually chuckled deeply then burst out laughing. A few seconds later he stopped completely. A wide smirk stretched across his face. He said quietly to himself:_

_"This is going to be interesting."_


	13. Extra stuff that I wrote

When two months had gone by since the famous trio's birthday, everything was rather calm: She, Rinaldo and Custodio explored their surroundings even further, their parents took time off of work to actually get to know their children, much to the said children's happiness. Now that Shaquila thought about it, how long had it been since the trio were last known as Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley and Harry Potter? It felt like ages, but in reality only three or four months had gone by. Though it felt much longer.

All three grew comfortable with their knew lives. At least, the lives they were supposed to have had if Fate hadn't decided to meddle with human affairs and snatched them away from their real families only to be placed into false ones whom had their memories altered. Not that the trio knew about that, but their parents had kept their meeting with Fate a secret from their children to avoid future conflict.

How do you explain to your child about such a situation that happened when you weren't even a week old? 

At the moment, Shaquila decided to go into the library once more to snatch another book away for reading. She had just finished her book that spoke about the Hundred Years War, but she refrained from interrogating her parents, England and France, ears off about what truly happened. Last thing she wanted was another episode of her father cry over something similar to what happened with the American Revolution _and_ with a high chance her mother cry over one thing or another.

The blond 13 year old grabbed the sliding tall ladder and got onto the old wood. It squeaked as she put her weight onto one, two, three and even more steps. Once she decided that she was high enough she put her foot on one of the shelves then pushed with slight force, which made the ladder accelerate towards the left. At some point, she stopped at the magical section. Shaquila grabbed a random book, sat down on one of the steps of the ladder and inspected the book. Its old cover was covered with dust with its pages turned yellowish from old age. The book contained a slight scent, one of which only old books carried around to show off their real ages as if it was an award that out classed everything else. Shaquila brushed the dusty cover, to reveal the title, which was written in Latin and in a beautiful handwritten manner, that read _Nationum_. It didn't take a genius to figure out that it spoke of the nations themselves. There was no name of the author, so she assumed that it was written by another nation.

Well, it was a good thing that the trio's' parents managed to get them a free pass in using magic during summer, but of course the children had to follow a certain set of rules so to not go overboard. Shaquila opened the book to the first page and saw that it was all written in Latin as well. She took out her 10'' long, vine wood with a dragon heartstring core, waved it in a half circular manner and whispered almost mysteriously:

" _Transferendum_ "

In front of her blue eyes she watched as the Latin words moved around the page, before they stopped completely once they finished reorganizing themselves into English words. She smiled satisfied at how the charm worked and moved onto the index. Her finger dragged down one sentence after another. _'Where did Nations come from?', 'First Nations that walked on this planet',_ so on and so forth until she came onto the last line: _'Nation children page 342'_. In an excited motion, she flipped through most of the book in a fast momentum until she finally came upon the page that she needed, _342_.

What she read next, was unexpected.

_Nation children have rarely to no reason to exist._

That was how it started. The tone was dark and cold, as if the author held no care as to who read the book.

_The nations (parents) have a decision upon their child's birth to name them whatever village, town or city he or she contain in their territory, to which they become the personifications of that said location. To quickly refresh your mind, the nations have a role to look after the country they represent and are expected to make decisions on the best interest of every mortal, magical and non-magical, as well as creature, also magical or non-magical. Their children, who represents them, come second to none and are expected to leave their said child if their people are in need for their aid. No exceptions can be made._

_The only reason for a nation's child to really exist is to show the state of the village, town or city that they represent by the use of their health. If they have a high fever or on verge to die, then that means that whatever village, town or city that they represent will not last very long until action takes place. If it is a small illness, then that means that the area will survive but will hit hard times. Any other symptoms are to be looked into page 348. Furthermore, they can be used as trading to maintain peace between two or more nations. To achieve that, the nation's child can be used to marry another nation or be used as a prisoner of war._

_Also, take note, that they rarely exist-_

Shaquila slammed the book closed. She had no courage nor will to read any further. _This... explains so much,_ she thought harshly and sadly. Ever since the trio had returned to their parents, they had never once seen another person like them that represented a city or anything else other than a nation. They brushed it off with an uncaring shrug. As long as they had each other and their parents, why should they care? Though, when she thought about it, the way that some of the other nations stared at them with distaste felt like as if just her and her best friends' presence was a sin. Now it all made sense.

This is all that she was good for? To be used as an object to monitor over the mortals and used for peace?

This was the only reason as to why her parents searched for her?

Did her existence have any other meaning?

Many emotions appeared at those thoughts. It was to the point that it felt like there was a mix of a roller coaster and a battle that took place. Shaquila wasn't sure how to control these emotions. All she could do was sit there, shake violently and cry. She didn't let a single sound escape her lips. Not even a sniff was heard. She wrapped her arms around her in self-comfort, but it gave little help. The book that was on her lap slowly slipped. Gravity took over and pulled onto it until the book fell to the ground with a loud _thud_. Its pages open to page 342.

This was how her parents found her an hour later.

"Shaquila? What's the matter?"

Her father asked. He was startled when he saw her cry. The girl looked up and glared at them.

"I'm just an object to you aren't I?!"

Now both parents were both startled.

"Amour **(1)** , we don't understand what you're talking about."

Her mother tried to reason with her child, a deep frown appeared on her face at what she heard.

" _This!_ "

Shaquila stormed over and showed them the book. England took it out of her clenched hand and looked through it, until understanding covered his face, as well as sadness.

"Shaquila, you can't truly believe this book."

"And why not?!" She demanded. "It says that I rarely have a reason to exist. It says that I _shouldn't_ exist. If I do then I'm nothing more than an object! _Am I nothing more than an object to you two?_ "

"Shaquila!" France exclaimed in shock at the accusation. "You're _not_ an object." She brought her daughter into her arms for a comfort hug. The teenager began to cry once again. "You're our _fille_ **(2)**. We love you very much. We will _never ever_ see you as an object. We never even think of you as that."

"Then why is that book-"

"Shaquila, there's a fine line between theory and practice." Her father lectured her lightly. "Do you think that just because the rules are written down that people will follow them? No. Many people break the rules on purpose or not intentionally."

"But it's _written down_ , it _has_ to be followed! If there aren't any rules then what's the point in them?"

The English man kneeled down to Shaquila's height. He looked her straight in the eye, as she did the same with her two watery, frustrated pair.

"The point is for the rules to be there, in case they are needed to be looked at once again for a specific purpose. You know how many times in history people broke the laws just because they did not fit into daily life? I will tell you this, it has been _a lot_ , and none of them, even us, regrets breaking those rules. Just because this book says that you and your friends are to be treated as objects, we will never see any of you as such. Your mother and I love you very much, love. Your friends' parents love their children just as much. The only objects we use are ourselves or our people, but heaven forbid would we ever use our own children."

Shaquila begun to cry once again, but this time did not hid her sniffs, pain and relief. She did not want her new parents to view her as an object. She wanted her parents to love her, not like her human parents who barely spent much time with her. She was pulled into a group hug by her parents, which she did not protest but instead lean in for the warmth and comfort.

"Nous vous aimons Shaquila, jamais l'oublier." **(3)**

**(1) Love - French**

**(2) Daughter - French**

**(3) We love you Shaquila, never forget that.**


End file.
